When it comes to hockey, we think Canada is the best in the world. No one can touch us and gold is the colour of our medals, or it's a disappointment.
With that thought in mind, spare some sympathy for English soccer fans. They think the same way when it comes to the beautiful game.
There's only one problem: England haven't won soccer's biggest prize since 1966 and that drought will continue after Wednesday's events. England lost to Croatia by a score of 2-1 at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, sinking the hearts of those hopeful fans who thought this was finally their year. The win means Croatia will now take on France for the biggest prize in soccer on Sunday.
Yellowknifer tried to contact several English expats and managed to get in touch with one – Ollie Williams – who was deep into a tub of Ben and Jerry's when contacted late Wednesday afternoon.
“I might just be the last England supporter left who hasn't gone into hiding,” he joked.
It didn't go the way he wanted but Williams said it went as he expected it would.
“I feel like England does this better than any other nation,” he said. “We surprised everyone with how we played and all of a sudden, we shift seven gears forward. There was this feeling of how terrible we are and then it's destiny or it's coming home, which is the most ridiculous phrase I've ever heard uttered about England's chances. It sucks but I kind of think the supporters got a bit too overconfident.”
England opened the scoring early on but Croatia found the equalizer midway through the second half. Croatia's Mario Mandzukic scored what would be the winning goal in the first half of extra time and England, try as they might, couldn't come back.
“That opening goal by Kieran Trippier in the first half was beautiful, one of the best I've ever seen in a semifinal,” said Williams. “(Goalkeeper) Jordan Pickford made some tremendous saves. We outperformed all expectations. This wasn't like your typical England losses and it's rare when England get to a semifinal especially since it doesn't happen often. The last time was in 1990 and I was five. I'm distraught like all of my fellow supporters but more impressed that we did so well.”
England began with a good group stage showing with wins over Tunisia and Panama before losing to Belgium, which will be England's opponent in the third place playoff game tomorrow morning.
“Tunisia is a team that we try to lose against more often than not,” said Williams. “Teams like that show up against us and outwork us and we get shown up every time. This was different than past tournaments because we played a great group stage.”
The shootout win over Colombia was something different from past years, he added.
“That was the first shootout England have won in World Cup eliminations,” he said. “Normally, we're losing in situations like that and when we missed the first one, those buzzers went off again. Thankfully, it worked out this time.”
The prevailing belief around England's national team was that it couldn't get any worse after the 2016 European Championship when they were beaten by Iceland in the round of 16, a loss that stung so bad, England's manager Gareth Southgate used it as motivation.
It seemed to work but Williams said the best thing English supporters can do now is be proud of what this current squad has done.
“My hope is that the media back home get behind this team and not tear them down,” he said. “This is something England can build upon because there's a great group of young players there now. I think that's why they did so well – no one had any expectation of them being up there with the likes of France and Belgium. This team should be good four years from now and there should be other young players pushing on through and fighting for spots.”
For now, Williams said the ice cream will help to quell the disappointment.