Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. England Football Team Enjoys Huge Support at World Cup England one of the best supported football teams at World Cup in South Africa Darren Taylor | Johannesburg, South Africa 01 June 2010 The cavernous sports bar to the east of Johannesburg rings with the manic cries of England football fans, during a warm-up game for the World Cup. âViva John Terry! Viva John Terry!â they scream and sing, under a giant TV screen, in honor of the captain of the Three Lions - Englandâs soccer team.  Waitresses, faces shining with sweat, hurry to fulfill orders. They stagger into the haze across a wet floor with trays laden with overflowing glasses. England fans â no matter where they are in the world â have a reputation for loving beer just as much as they adore their national sport, football.  Theyâre also known for their dry, caustic humor â evident in the many songs they sing during soccer matches. In the Grand Slam Sports Café, when Englandâs opponents come close to scoring, the English fans turn to a group of cheering rival supporters and chant, âWhere were you when they were .â¦?â using an expletive that renders their opponents speechless.  Long historical links Thereâs little doubt that England will be one of the best supported teams at the World Cup. And thatâs not only because 40,000 football lovers are expected to make the journey from the British Isles to South Africa.  Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the local World Cup organizing committee, has acknowledged that many South Africans would rather watch England than their own national team, Bafana Bafana.  Blood links many South Africans to England. Many are first or second generation South Africans, their parents or grandparents born in England. They carry British passports. They shun local football in favor of the English Premier League, which they watch fanatically.  In fact, South Africa and England share a long history, tainted with the bitter taste of colonialism. The English settled in South Africa in the 1800s, fighting various land wars with indigenous groups like the Zulu and Xhosa, and also against the Boers â descendents of Dutch immigrants whoâd arrived on the southern tip of Africa in the 1600s. After all the conflict, many English remained in South Africa. Thousands more arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, when the South African government welcomed skilled foreigners to establish big industry in the country.  History has thus conspired to ensure that hundreds of thousands of England supporters reside in the host country. English will party ⦠with or without match tickets Jim and Ethel Sleith live in Johannesburg but are originally from the English city of Stoke.  âWe couldnât get (tickets to) England games. Itâs impossible to get an England game. Thatâs obviously the team I would have wanted to see (at the World Cup),â Jim tells VOA amid the chaos of the Grand Slam bar. â(World football governing body) FIFA sold most of the tickets to fans in England, who are coming out here. So us poor buggers living here in South Africa lost out.â Fans Gareth Collins and Shane Wilson also failed to secure tickets for Englandâs opening game against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12th. But, says Wilson, âWeâll be there anyway for the party.â Collins adds, âWe should win that one.â  Wilson grimaces at him, âMate, I wouldnât be so sure. England have a history of starting badly at major tournaments.â Collins glares at his friend and asks, âIf you donât believe in the team, what the hell are you going to Rustenburg for?â Wilson replies, âFor the same reasons I always go to footie games â to get hopelessly trashed and try to score with women.â The pairâs South African friend, Tony de Kock, chips in, âShaney, thatâs a good idea. England wonât score so youâll have to.â England must âplay out of their skinsâ However, England did extremely well during the World Cup qualification rounds, winning all but one of their 10 matches. English fans are hoping this good form continues, to help their team to its first World Cup title since its only victory on home soil back in 1966.  But, for this to happen, England must emerge from a preliminary group including the U.S., Algeria and Slovenia. Jim Sleith says, âEngland will sail it.â Yet he doesnât discount the danger posed to his team by the US.  âI watched (the U.S.) play Brazil during last yearâs Confederations Cup here, and the Americans really impressed me with their discipline ⦠They only lost 3 â 2 in the final against the excellent Brazil.â     Critics have labeled England a âone man show,â insisting that without star striker Wayne Rooney, who plays for powerhouse English club Manchester United, the Three Lions have little chance of progressing far in the competition. Even some England supporters agree. âNo Rooney, no victory, hey,â comments Wilson.  Jim insists that England has got the potential to win the World Cup, âbut itâll need a lot of luck for them to beat some teams that are just more naturally gifted.â He points to Argentina, which has arguably the worldâs best player in Lionel Messi, and Brazil, which includes a pack of star players.  âBrazil are definitely going to be there. (And) the Germans! If we play the Germans and it goes to penalties, we always lose!â Jim exclaims, adding, âEngland have got to play out of their skins, really, to win this (World Cup).â As much as he âlovesâ England, Collins doesnât see that happening. He fears âlack of teamworkâ will again stymie the English. De Kock says England is âas usual, over-hyped ⦠Englandâs chances are going to be the same as at every World Cup â theyâve got none! Theyâve got lots of bark and no bite!â Crime horror stories But far removed from speculation about which team will take the trophy, news media in Britain have been filled with horror stories about crime in South Africa ahead of the football carnival. The Sleiths â regular travelers to England â say these reports have âundoubtedly influencedâ many English fans to abandon plans to attend the first World Cup on African soil. Jim Sleith says he doesnât blame them. âThe statistics donât lie,â he quips. Every year, there are 20,000 murders in South Africa. Thatâs about 50 killings a day, ensuring that South Africaâs second only to Colombia in terms of an annual murder rate. The host countryâs also burdened by extremely high incidences of rape and violent robbery.  âWe do have a hell of a lot of crime; we have serious crime,â Jim tells VOA. âWe have (car) hijackings, so (visiting soccer fans) need to know exactly where theyâre driving. If they get lost, they could be in serious trouble ⦠Anything can happen to them.â His wife adds, âI was hijacked some years ago and itâs very scary.â Wilson says heâs âprayingâ that his home countryâs high crime rate doesnât deter foreign fans â âespecially the femalesâ - from visiting South Africa. He laughs, âWe hope there are a lot of honeys from London, America â all those places â coming over! Weâll be here for them, hey! Weâll protect the ladies!â  Winter shock and vuvuzela haters Besides crime, Jim has other concerns for visiting England fans. âHaving spoken with English people on their way here, Iâm worried some of them are going to arrive here in sunglasses, Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts expecting hot African weather, when in fact it will be in the middle of a freezing winter!â Then again, he smiles, English supporters are âinfamousâ for their âbarmyâ behavior, which may âprotectâ them against the cold. âWeâve seen football supporters in the UK (United Kingdom), in the middle of the UK winter, pulling their shirts off. So, obviously it depends on how much alcohol theyâre going to consume and thatâs going to build up body heat, you know!â His wife nods her head and jokes, âSome of them are going to be so drunk theyâre not going to care if the match is being played at the South Pole!â  The Sleiths are also worried about the well-being of the English fans ears. Both âhateâ vuvuzelas - the plastic, racket-making trumpets that South African supporters love to blow. âAt the Confederations Cup games I attended, the noise was just deafening. Terrible! I had (an) earache for weeks afterwards,â Ethel complains. Her husband adds, âWe actually had tickets for the final, and I gave them away. The simple reason I gave them away was these bloody vuvuzelas! It is horrendous, the noise that those things make.â Ethel pleads, âPlease, God, let them fix that before the World Cup starts! Having said that, Iâm looking forward to going to the games â with my earplugs and earmuffs!â .