Chris DUNLAVY
A FRESH TAKE ON FOOTBALL

WHEN the memes were flying during England’s heady charge to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, nobody took them seriously. The cast of Friends dancing to Three Lions. Caesar from Planet of the Apes whispering ‘It’s coming home’. All good, harmless fun.
Except in Croatia, where a combination of cultural confusion and wilful misunderstanding prompted their players – much like the Germans in 1996 – to construe the videos as presumptive and disrespectful.
No footballer requires an added incentive to reach a World Cup final, of course. But as a visibly ril...