If You Can't Beat Them
I had to laugh at this World Cup report which appeared in The Telegraph the other day and tells the tale of a Scotsman who has been supporting Uruguay for the past four years, ever since the Scottish national team failed to qualify for the 2010 contest held in South Africa.
I can't blame him, I have to admit, because at the rate we're going the Scottish team has to improve in leaps and bounds, if we are going to make the next World Cup.
So why not adopt another team and in Uruguay Mark McConville has chosen a small country with a population of only 3.4 million (less than Scotland), yet has still managed to hold its own on the world stage.
And in Luis Suarez, Uruguay has a natural goal scorer who has the potential to become the outstanding player of the tournament.
Brazil World Cup 2014: 'He's not anti-English' insist family of Scot seen celebrating England's defeat
England may be out of the World Cup, but for one British football fan in Brazil - proud Scot Mark McConville - the results could not have been better
Mark McConville was described as a 'hero' after he was seen celebrating with Uruguay fans during England’s defeat Photo: Ian MacNicol/Deadline News
By Gordon Rayner, in Rio de Janeiro, and Oliver Duggan - The Telegraph
England may be out of the World Cup, but for one British football fan in Brazil the results could not have been better.
Mark McConville, a proud Scot, was described as a “hero” by his family after he was seen celebrating with Uruguay fans during England’s defeat, waving a Saltire and wearing a tartan hat.
Mr McConville, 41, will have been delighted to see England’s World Cup hopes finally extinguished when Costa Rica beat Italy 1-0 to end any chance of Roy Hodgson’s team reaching the knockout stage of the tournament.
England would still have had a slim chance of qualifying had Italy won, but the result means that they can finish third at best in Group D, with only the top two teams qualifying.
It is the first time since 1958 that the team has failed to reach the knockout stage of a World Cup tournament for which it has qualified.
Mr McConville’s family, from Glasgow, insisted that although he was a “big fan” of Scottish independence, he was not “anti-English”.
They pointed out that he actually lives south of the border, in Northampton, and said he has been supporting
Uruguay since Scotland failed to reach South Africa in 2010.
His father, Andy McConville, 68, from South Side, Glasgow, said: “He’s not a shy guy, let’s put it that way. He’s like any guy really when they’re going to watch a game — quite happy to put on the tartan gear and let everybody know he’s Scottish. He’s not an anti-English guy or anything like that. It would have been more just about the banter.
“And being a single guy there’s nobody telling him not to go. He’s having a good time and doing these things while he’s single.
“He’ll probably be over there in Brazil until they throw him out.”
Mr McConville, who works for the Mercedes Formula 1 team, is currently doing charity work in Brazil and has been donating second-hand Celtic football strips to an orphanage in São Paulo.
His brother-in-law, Paul Hamilton, described him as a “hero” on Twitter, where images of him in the crowd went viral after the England defeat.
Mr McConville’s mother Isabell, 66, said: “It happened that fast: the camera just goes round the crowd and then we saw him. Then one of my friends sent a photo of it to my son, and suddenly it was everywhere. I suppose it is a bit odd, but he always probably thought he would be on the television.”
Mr McConville was not the only Scotland fan sighted in the Uruguayan crowd. Kenneth Macgregor, Lewis McAra and brothers Scott and Mike Anderson, from Aberdeen, were seen in Scotland football tops behind the goal.
England fans on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro insisted that they would still take happy memories home from Brazil.
Stuart Cairns, 39, from Birmingham, said: “There has never been another World Cup in Brazil in my lifetime so we have had a great time being here, it’s just a shame the football put a bit of a dampener on it.”
England’s game against Costa Rica on Tuesday is now a dead rubber. Unless England win, Brazil 2014 will go down as their worst performance at a World Cup finals.
Mark McConville was described as a 'hero' after he was seen celebrating with Uruguay fans during England’s defeat Photo: Ian MacNicol/Deadline News
By Gordon Rayner, in Rio de Janeiro, and Oliver Duggan - The Telegraph
England may be out of the World Cup, but for one British football fan in Brazil the results could not have been better.
Mark McConville, a proud Scot, was described as a “hero” by his family after he was seen celebrating with Uruguay fans during England’s defeat, waving a Saltire and wearing a tartan hat.
Mr McConville, 41, will have been delighted to see England’s World Cup hopes finally extinguished when Costa Rica beat Italy 1-0 to end any chance of Roy Hodgson’s team reaching the knockout stage of the tournament.
England would still have had a slim chance of qualifying had Italy won, but the result means that they can finish third at best in Group D, with only the top two teams qualifying.
It is the first time since 1958 that the team has failed to reach the knockout stage of a World Cup tournament for which it has qualified.
Mr McConville’s family, from Glasgow, insisted that although he was a “big fan” of Scottish independence, he was not “anti-English”.
They pointed out that he actually lives south of the border, in Northampton, and said he has been supporting
Uruguay since Scotland failed to reach South Africa in 2010.
His father, Andy McConville, 68, from South Side, Glasgow, said: “He’s not a shy guy, let’s put it that way. He’s like any guy really when they’re going to watch a game — quite happy to put on the tartan gear and let everybody know he’s Scottish. He’s not an anti-English guy or anything like that. It would have been more just about the banter.
“And being a single guy there’s nobody telling him not to go. He’s having a good time and doing these things while he’s single.
“He’ll probably be over there in Brazil until they throw him out.”
Mr McConville, who works for the Mercedes Formula 1 team, is currently doing charity work in Brazil and has been donating second-hand Celtic football strips to an orphanage in São Paulo.
His brother-in-law, Paul Hamilton, described him as a “hero” on Twitter, where images of him in the crowd went viral after the England defeat.
Mr McConville’s mother Isabell, 66, said: “It happened that fast: the camera just goes round the crowd and then we saw him. Then one of my friends sent a photo of it to my son, and suddenly it was everywhere. I suppose it is a bit odd, but he always probably thought he would be on the television.”
Mr McConville was not the only Scotland fan sighted in the Uruguayan crowd. Kenneth Macgregor, Lewis McAra and brothers Scott and Mike Anderson, from Aberdeen, were seen in Scotland football tops behind the goal.
England fans on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro insisted that they would still take happy memories home from Brazil.
Stuart Cairns, 39, from Birmingham, said: “There has never been another World Cup in Brazil in my lifetime so we have had a great time being here, it’s just a shame the football put a bit of a dampener on it.”
England’s game against Costa Rica on Tuesday is now a dead rubber. Unless England win, Brazil 2014 will go down as their worst performance at a World Cup finals.
