In what may be a race to the bottom (or to wokeness, if you prefer), two traditional Western superpowers had a peculiar moment before their World Cup match on Friday.

On Friday, the United States and England squared off in World Cup group play, but before the game began, the English players all had a case of weak knees simultaneously.

This was not a widespread instance of tendinitis or anything. Apparently, the English soccer team’s new “woke” strategy to promote “inclusivity” is to take a knee before to kickoff.

Before the kickoff with England, many American fans who rarely watch soccer outside of the World Cup tuned in to see the following:

KICK OFF

England vs USA

England kick off as the Three Lions look to book a spot in the World Cup last-16!

Follow LIVE 👇https://t.co/7LyTdWitqm #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/zrigVfhQea

— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) November 25, 2022

As shown in the below Twitter post, all of England’s soccer players took a knee prior to kickoff to express their protest.

It is a striking contrast with Team USA, who were all standing before the game started. Given that many attribute the spread of national anthem protests in sports to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, it is surprising that Americans have not adopted their beloved sports martyr’s mannerisms.

To clarify, England did not protest the national anthem or anything like. Given the events of 1776, it would be difficult to fault the English for sitting and munching popcorn during the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Apparently, this is England’s innocuous and toothless method for gaining progressive brownie points.

Gareth Southgate, the manager of England, has made no secret of his team’s intention to virtue signal before to competitions.

Here, Southgate openly defies FIFA and Qatar, the World Cup’s host country, and the stated directives that players should refrain from discussing topics outside of sport.

“So regarding the LGBT community, we stand for inclusivity, and we’re very, very strong on what we think,” Southland said. “We think that’s important in terms of all our supporters, and we understand the challenges that this tournament brings within that.”

More on this story via The Western Journal:

And here’s Southland again, this time explicitly stating his intent to have his team kneel in protest: CONTINUE READING…