UK Slips on Oily Ball and USA Sail into a Draw Courtesy of BP.

London GirlJun 12, 2010

Healthy rivalry happened over the weekend. England versus USA in football. If you watched the match you would have spent the whole 90minutes hearing the mosquito impersonations. It made me glad I was not in the stadium because I would have been driven crazy by that sound. That and the fact I remembered why I never got into football at home in England. Two words; lame. Hmm that's one..okay how about - one dimensional. Its a little like watching The Flintstones after you have just been to see Avatar.

There was also a lot of talk during the week prior to the match about how the UK team had been banned from having sexso that they could be in peak concentration and energy for the match. I think people will agree that it didn't really work for Robert Green though (goalie who let the USA goal in). Maybe he had a little fiddle on the side and that was why his eye came off the ball. We will never know.

Oh and here's the Londongirl's Completely Biased Guide to Football Versus Football.

1) UNIFORMS

USA: I prefer the whole look of the NFL. I love the uniforms, the tight leggings (they are leggings guys...not pants nor trousers), the war paint, the shoulder pads. Excellent. I even like the helmets although I wish The Vikings would change the two horns on the side of theirs. It makes them look like cartoon characters. 9/10

UK: Lets face it - very unflattering and very boring really. (I have to say the UK uniforms were miles better than the USA in the world-cup, but they still suck). Baggy shorts with socks pulled up is not a good look in my book. And t-shirts covered with advertising sucks big time too. Luckily they did not have BP sponsored football shirts. 4/10

2) LENGTH OF GAME

USA: Four 15mins quarters. Clock goes down. Clock stops if players run off field. 6/10

UK: Two 45 mins halves plus injury time. Clock runs up to 90 mins. 4/10

3) STOPPING/STARTING WITHIN GAME

USA: Play stops a lot. This is what narks the UK audience and is one of the key issues bought up when a Brit is questioned about American Football. You have to understand that when the play stops it gives time to look at it again, discuss the tactics, have a breather and get more popcorn. I have now got used to the stopping/starting and definitely prefer it that way. 8/10

UK: Continuous 45 mins play (plus injury time). Continuous flow of the game filled with peaks and drops. It means that you have to pick when you go to the bathroom carefully so you don't miss a key play that everyone will be talking about apart from you. 4/10

4) ATHLETICISM OF GAME

USA: Depends on the position you play, defense or offense or whatever, regardless of what position you need to be very fit and strong. In a game there are often very athletic maneuvers, very fast running, true athletes. 8/10

UK: Have to have huge amount of stamina to be able to play full-on for the whole game. Again very fit is essential, strength isn't as necessary here, but speed is huge and of course ball skill. 8/10

5) FANS

USA: Fans are generally much calmer. Have Cheerleaders that fill in times where nothing is going on in stadium (bonus for the guys..for the girls you just wonder what on earth got them to put that amount of make-up on, I do at least). NFL invented the SuperFan. Fans sit anywhere. Usual to end up sitting next to a rival fan. 8/10

UK: Have a bad reputation of "crazy" fans that get fired up. That reputation is hard to shift even though there was a crack down on football hooligans and there are a lot less incidents these days. Fans also tend to sit on certain sides to chant better together. Very passionate about the sport. 5/10