Madam, - How pleased I am that England's progress in the World Cup has come to an end. Not that I did not wish the team of my native country well in the competition. On the contrary, I had hoped to see the team give a better account of itself. But I am pleased because I will no longer have to endure the jibes of Irish soccer pundits on RTÉ television and in The Irish Times.
Messrs Giles, Dunphy and co I was able to switch off, but The Irish Times is essential reading for me each day. No one can object to criticism - and there are many aspects of England's performances, beginning with squad and team selection, which have been rightly criticised. But biased reporting which seeks to belittle and humiliate is a different matter. And I can't think that readers who might enjoy poking fun at the football team of their neighbour across the water will have been especially amused by Tom Humphries's reports because of their repetitiveness in the above regard.
I know this kind of approach in Ireland is supposed to be an antidote to the English tabloids' hype of their country's team, and I agree that these newspapers are often a disgrace. I was in England last week: the atmosphere was terrific, but in no sense did the ordinary fans feel that England had a great chance of winning the World Cup, still less some sort of right to do so. This did not dampen their enthusiasm, and it all reminded me of the atmosphere in Ireland during the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Jack Charlton's teams won many a match playing ugly, and no one bothered about that.
Soccer pundits cannot have it both ways. If England is not a world class soccer nation (a justifiable verdict), the England team cannot also be scoffed at for displaying, in the match against Portugal, the very virtues which have served Irish teams (North and South) well - courage and dogged determination in the face of adversity and to compensate for technical limitations.
If Tom Humphries's attitude to the England team is, as it were, "politically correct", a distressing incident which happened to an acquaintance of mine at the weekend is hardly a surprise. Having hung out a flag of St George on Saturday, she had her front door and surrounding brickwork daubed with oil-based green paint. - Yours, etc,
TONY WILLIAMS, Ashbrook, Dublin 3.