Abstract
This article examines past and present identity politics issues between England and Germany and considers the role of sport and the media in perpetuating national habitus. A qualitative case study of English and German media coverage of their semifinal match in the 1996 European Football Championships is used to illustrate the key issues. The Eliasian concepts of sleeping memories, imagined charisma, and fantasy shields are employed to construct an account of the current tensions evident in Anglo-German relations, which surface in media reporting of sporting contests. The authors’ findings point to the existence of an agenda based around nostalgia and ethnic assertiveness/defensiveness on the part of the English press, with references to the Second World War and the World Cup victory of 1966. The German press preferred to focus on the contemporary European political situation to assert their superiority over England—and to take further satisfaction from the victorious performance of their football team.
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