Anyone But England - That's The Motto Of The Bengalis In Scotland During The FIFA World Cup

Anyone But England.

This phrase from Scottish Wimbledon champion Andy Murray during the 2006 FIFA World Cup made a lot of English fans upset.

A long history of sports rivalry has made it impossible for them to change habits in this edition.

bccl/Representative image

Though Britain sends a combined team for Olympics, it's a different tale in other sports. England is more successful and has better resources than its neighbours, and that touches a cord.

The rivalry runs so deep that while the Bengalis in England are rooting for the country in the World Cup, Scottish Bengalis aren¡¯t that excited. Bengalis take football seriously, whether in this country or abroad.

¡°I have been an Argentina fan, cried every time they lost, and take England¡¯s rivalry with it¡¯s ¡®bad neighbour¡¯ seriously,¡± Subhranil Bhadra from Edinburgh.

¡°Englishmen underplayed the last league match against Belgium to avoid a possible clash against Brazil. The Cup is not for cowards,¡± said Edinburgh¡¯s Samrat Dhar. ¡°The World Cup is an EU deal this year and Brexit is certain.¡±

Reuters

Politically, the British countries aren¡¯t exactly on good terms due to the Brexit, but sports have a long history of the rivalry. The first ever football international was played between England and Scotland. Scotland beat England by 3-2 back in 1967, after the English won the World Cup on their home soil, and were declared the unofficial world champions.

¡°The stores ran out of Colombian and Swedish jerseys and ¡®anyone who faces England,¡± said Sumit Konar, a post-doctorate research scholar in the School of Chemistry in University of Edinburgh.¡± I see an India-Pakistan hockey or cricket match scene here.¡± The Croatian jersey is a hot favourite for everybody a before the England-Croatia quarterfinal match in Russia.

At a Glasgow pub, after England missed a penalty against Colombia, the place erupted in unfettered shouts,¡± laughed Pramod Sanyal, an engineer.