Cheering for who

Dean

29 Sep 2025 — 1 min read

This happened in 2018 when I was working in China. I went to a local sports bar with a few workmates to watch a football match between England and France. After settling in and watching for a while, France scored a goal. Much to my surprise, all of the local Chinese cheered wildly for them! I said to my friends, “What are the odds we’d go to a bar where everyone supports France?!”

My colleagues were a mix of American, Canadian and British, so naturally us Brits were teased for a bit. After a while, it looked like England were about to score. I felt like cheering them on, but I wasn’t sure how that would go down as the majority in the bar clearly supported France. I decided to keep quiet and just hope for the best.

Well I needn’t have worried, as the whole bar erupted into cheering again!? Except this time, it was for England!? After the bafflement wore off, the cogs turned and I realised:

They weren’t cheering for a team, they were cheering for the goals.

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