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You are in: Football: World Cup 2002 |
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Sunday, 2 September, 2001, 12:56 GMT 13:56 UK
Victory grips armchair fans
The nation went wild for Michael Owen's hat-trick
Nearly 15 million people watched England's stunning 5-1 victory over Germany on according to provisional TV viewing figures.
The confirmed total will not be known for another week or so, but it will not include the many fans who watched the match in pubs and clubs. The Match of the Day coverage averaged at 12.7 million viewers, with 14.6 million tuning in for the last quarter of an hour of the match.
That gave the BBC a 52% audience share for the evening, the best any channel has achieved in the last five years. BBC director of sport Peter Salmon said it was a "massive vote of confidence" for the corporation's team of football commentators. He added: "It just goes to show that people love to come to the BBC for the big games." The win, England's first in Germany since 1965, is likely to increase the nation's feelgood factor, according to a political analyst. The result has special significance because the opponents were England's long-term rivals Germany. "It exorcises a ghost," said Lincoln Allison, lecturer at Warwick University on politics and sport. "We have tended to regard the Germans as efficient and flawless.
Allison highlighted the example of Brazil, were studies have shown that 7% of the population change their opinions on the Government depending on the result of the national side. He said: "No research has been done on how great the significance is here, but it is almost certain that the performance of the England team affects the feelgood factor. "When hundreds of thousands of people in the country are left ecstatic following a victory it must give at least a small boost." The success in Munich comes after a disappointing sporting summer for English sports fans. England lost the Ashes after a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Australia, while the Lions lost a hard-fought rugby series against the same opponents. The misery continued on the athletics field where Great Britain won only two medals at the World Championships in Canada.
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02 Sep 01 | UK News
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