HEROISM – THE IRONY OF THE BLACK RACE

History was made last Tuesday in England, and here I am talking about English football this time.

In the round of 16 of the European Championships, England secured a victory over arch rivals Germany for the first time in almost 60 years, and in regulation time too. There was no drama, there was no controversy, there was no call for goal line technology. It was a true masterclass – true professional and efficient display where no one was in doubt as to which side deserved to win the match.

So England was riding high. A solid performance where defence was well marshalled most times, and transition and attacking play was pleasing to the eye. That element of luck, that people tend to be divided over when it comes to football, depending on what side of the argument they find themselves, was also on the English side, as their German friends were guilty of wastefulness the few times they got close to England’s goal.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was called on once or twice to save situations, and thankfully he had his error-free head screwed on properly and pulled saves when needed.

All in all, a great performance.

And, going into the quarter-final game against Ukraine, confidence in the England camp is…..sky-high will even be an understatement. How ever not? They have played 4 games so far, and have not conceded a single goal. They have not scored much, but they have not let any in behind them either. The only team that can boast this record this far.

Golden boy of English football, top scorer Harry Kane had seemingly left his scoring boots at home, perhaps waiting for them to be transported directly to Manchester, where he will inevitably end up in a big-money move later this summer (a story for another day). Against Germany, after he missed a clear chance earlier on, boy came good and scored!

And he made the headlines of every newspaper in the land the following morning! Fair play to him, he did not ask to be placed on the cover.

But while Kane’s drought was on in the first three games, someone had stepped up. This, someone, scored the two goals England had scored in their first three games leading up to this World Cup final-esque fixture against Germany.

And while England’s team was fluffing its lines in the first half against Germany, it was this same guy that stepped up, started a move and was on the end of it to break the deadlock and scored the first goal for England – a goal that deflated the Germans, made a comeback virtually impossible and allowed Golden Boy Kane to sneak in and get their second and kill the game off.

That player – Raheem Sterling – Manchester City player, England’s number 10!

Sterling had a successful season as a club player – winning with Manchester City, the Premier League, and the League Cup, and reached the final of the European Champions League. But individually, he had his troubles within the team, and there was talk of him possibly leaving this summer because he was not having the best of times.

Somehow Gareth Southgate kept faith in him, saw something in him, and made him a starting player for his team, and Sterling duly rewarded him. Now the young man of Jamaican origin has three goals in 4 games for England, and those three goals are out of the four England to have scored so far!

He had a torrid season by his standards.

Then gentleman Kane put the icing on the cake against the Germans. Great for him, good for team confidence, and for him personally.

The papers say he’s had a troubled time and he must be relieved that he finally got his goal. Fair enough.

But what troubled time has he had? He had a great season for his club. He emerged, not for the first time, golden boot winner (highest scorer) in the Premier League. His goals involvement ratio was incredibly good. And he felt so good and so confident in himself that he could openly step forward and say to his club, ‘I wanna go because I think I am better than this level’! Now that takes guts.

So how troubled was his time? Three games in the Euros without a shot on target? Dear God….that is really troubling – a major crisis in the life of a striker (not!).

Harry Kane is a fine gentleman and one who conducts himself very well anytime I come across him. And we are happy for his exploits as an England player and for finding form at the right time.

Now there is belief; a genuine belief that England will kick on now and go win the Euros. It has been destined, ordained and it really should happen. And with Harry Kane finding form at this time, alongside the budding abundance of talent in our offensive play, it is hard to see many teams that can stop England making a triumphant final at Wembley a reality.

But….why was it that the star man of England so far was not pasted on the front pages of newspapers on Wednesday morning? Sterling got us going. He played very well. He was not anonymous for one minute of that match. To the extent that, the only glaring mistake England committed in giving the ball to an opponent for a dangerous counter-attack was committed by him (Thomas Muller will still be having trouble sleeping after that miss)!

Did Sterling not deserve to be the front page lead? Why, dare I ask?

The colour of his skin, maybe? Boom! Nailed it.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was pictured fist-pumping in the air at an England goal and he posted it on his social media pages to celebrate the victory, and who was in the background? Harry Kane on his TV screen!

Why did we not celebrate the moment the deadlock was broken, when relief poured out audibly from our lips – on the 75-minute mark when Raheem Sterling scored?

But what gets me really, is that while the British newspapers were pontificating and gushing at the Harry Kane masterpiece, and you could almost grudgingly understand and go, ‘it is what it is’ and say no more, how about African, Afro-Caribbean, and other black-based newspapers and websites? None of them saw what Sterling did in the team as headline-worthy? And even to our own people, the victory was down to Kane? Ouch!

We always ask for equality in everything. We say there is a disparity in every manner of society. We never ask for favours. We are asking to be treated fairly. To be criticised fairly, but also to be celebrated fairly.

But when our own people can not find the courage, the cojones, to celebrate our own fairly, what moral leg do we have to stand on and rant at ‘them’ not recognising and promoting ‘us’ fairly?

Raheem Sterling deserved more credit than he got in the wake of the England v Germany game of last Tuesday. The British media, the British government and the fans shortchanged him on Wednesday. And I tell you what, it might have been ‘OKAY’ how they treated him if we fail to cast our minds to what he would have received, had he been poor on the night, missed glaring chances and perhaps even fluffed his lines from the penalty spot!

Give as much as you would when bad, as when good, I will say.

But for our own people my message will always be this – we need to celebrate our own otherwise we can just as well shut up and stop ranting when others don’t celebrate us.

To Raheem, I don’t like the club you play for and I don’t enjoy your dominance over English football, but….I say kudos to you. For me, and to many who just don’t have the spine to accept it, you have been England’s man of the tournament……so far! Great guns to you!

The irony of the black race by Tunde of TundeTalks
Inspired by Bro Cletus