But the nationalism generated by Banks Moore Charlton and co turned sour
But the nationalism generated by Banks, Moore, Charlton and co turned sour a very long time ago. Its legacy is not simply the sight of human bulldogs draped in union flags en promenade in the market squares of continental towns, but the almost universal assumption that England deserve to win merely because they happen to be English.The collective emotions stirred into being by football are not always so fraudulent. Last month, for example, 32,000 of my fellow Norwich City supporters made a 520 mile round trip to Cardiff for the First Division play-off final. Norwich lost, but everybody enjoyed the trip, nobody drowned themselves in the river Wensum out of pique, and most of the local sports journalists managed to avoid suggesting that Darryl Sutch’s decisive penalty miss was a “tragedy”.
If Beckham’s heroes fail to distinguish themselves tomorrow, on the other hand, then driving a Swedish-made car through central London will be an activity best avoided. And so I shall be watching England’s collection of crocks and makeweights  and also, it should be said, three or four players of genuine grace and talent  do their stuff in the same spirit that I wander out every four years or so to vote Labour The heart yearns for victory The head, alas, craves only defeat. davidjtaylor btconnect . A World Cup that is already bereft of Ryan Giggs, Patrick Kluivert, Robert Pires and Roy Keane will kick off tonight with Zinedine Zidane also consigned to the sidelines. Thanks should thus be given to the many local deities that at least David Beckham and Fredrik Ljungberg should be fit to play when England and Sweden meet on Sunday.Their probable participation in Saitama should enhance a match which otherwise threatened to resemble a mid-table Premiership clash.
Without Ljungberg, Sweden lack flair, without Beckham, England have limited imagination. He is now likely to line up on the right of a midfield quartet including his Manchester United team-mates Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt and, on the left, Emile Heskey. It is a big improvement on the inexperienced combination which ended last Sunday’s friendly with Cameroon. That read: Danny Mills, Joe Cole, Owen Hargreaves, Trevor Sinclair.
After training at Tsuna yesterday Beckham said that the big breakthrough came four days ago.