The Depreciation of Sterling

Throughout the Euro 2020 competition, one of the outstanding players has been Raheem Sterling.  What a pity he had to spoil it all, by what nearly all independent observers of the game against Denmark saw as being a dive that gave England an undeserved penalty that won them the match.  It has been described as the most dramatic fall of Sterling since the currency crashed out of the ERM!  It not only depreciated Sterling, but it just goes to confirm the view of England itself, now increasingly held by others, following Johnson's reneging on deals, and so on, as a nation of cheats.

But, what else does it say?  The victory over Denmark is being hailed to the rafters, despite the sullied nature of the win.  In itself that is rather like the way the US in the past made great play, even making movies about its heroic military victory over tiny Grenada.  England, a nation of 50 million people, can hardly make too much of its victory over Denmark a nation of just 5 million people, especially with it being taken into extra-time, and then having to cheat even to achieve that!  Even then, Kane filed to score from the penalty, only scoring from the rebound, a rebound itself, which it now appears might only have happened as English supporters directed the ray from a laser pen into the eyes of Schmeichel.

All in all, it adds to the picture of a nation in decline, and all the shabbines that goes with it.