In the Big Euro 2020 Game, I Knew the England I Was Rooting For

BERLIN — It is an odd thing, to watch your country of birth from afar. Having been in Germany for seven years, I sometimes feel the connection to England with an even greater intensity than I did when I was living there. I find myself being more passionate about its politics — and, of course, its football.

This sense has been all the more pronounced over the past month, as I’ve watched the English national team proceed through the Euro 2020 tournament, a continentwide championship whose final will be played today between England and Italy. England’s men’s team has never reached this stage before, and it would be an understatement to say that people are excited. The footage from back home is appropriately euphoric.

I’ve been excited, too. When I watched the semifinal match against Denmark on Thursday, I was on the edge of my seat until the last minutes of extra time; I spent the night celebrating the win. I love how Gareth Southgate, the team’s coach, has refused to panic and stuck to the tactical plan. I love how Bukayo Saka, still only a teenager, has played as maturely as if he had been representing England for years. I can’t wait to see Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish, two of England’s best attackers in years, seize their moment.

So no doubt a big part of me longs to be in the middle of an English beer garden during today’s game, spilling my pint during a goal celebration, surrounded by strangers who have suddenly become my best friends. But another part is glad to be detached from the hysterical jingoism of the nation’s tabloid papers, which have predictably gone for xenophobic jokes at most available opportunities.

My conflicted relationship with England is personified by two men: one who is driving government policy to alleviate the suffering of some of the most vulnerable people in society; the other the prime minister.

The first man, Marcus Rashford, is a 23-year-old footballer who not only plays with distinction for Manchester United and the national team but has also devoted his spare time to advocating for social justice. (His activism has attracted the praise of, among others, Barack Obama.) The second, Boris Johnson, presides over a government that regularly breaks the law, that faces allegations of corruption for its mismanagement of the pandemic, and that aims to make criminals of peaceful protesters and of those who would rescue asylum seekers from peril or death.