Heroes? I don’t think so.

Yes BlueBell, that is to be admired and is good sportsmanship, doesn’t mean they are heroes though

Funny, Eddie the eagle was, a long time ago, seen as a hero although he used to come last but he was a hero in the fact that he kept picking himself up and trying again and again even though many were laughing at him he didn’t give up and in the same way England very young, inexperienced team played a dignified game Gareth southgate got rid of all the highly paid prima donnas and played some up and coming young players and they got further than England had done in the last (was it) 28 years Now that may not make a hero in your eyes but in many sports lovers eyes it was and why not

Jane very few of these players are well paid, most play for insignificant clubs

er Charley I think ya might be a bit out of the loop here!

Anniebach, sorry if my post wasn't clear. I was not criticising the young men for not being good enough to be hero's because they're working class. I was asking whether the fact football is generally played by working-class boys (and girls) does this lead to the way the players and supporters are often seen as not good enough.
I do see this team as hero's. In a totally different league than the firefighters on our moorland, or the cave rescuers but hero's non the less.

Riverwalk this team was a new, young in fact the youngest team in the World Cup, and fairly inexperienced team so although I haven’t enough knowledge to tell you what they are paid I m presuming they are not in the Rooney/Renaldo league at all

Iam64 What does class have to do with it? How do you define firefighters, mountain rescue and others fighting the fires? The underclass, or middle class - and really does it make any difference.

hero
ˈhɪərəʊ/Submit
noun
1.
a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
"a war hero"
synonyms:brave man, champion, man of courage, great man, man of the hour, conquering hero, victor, winner, conqueror, lionheart, warrior, paladin, knight, white hat;

As pointed out several times by others there are different kinds of hero .

Iam, most firefighters are working class. I realy do not see a connect with class. Steve Redgrave won gold at five consecutive Olympics, brilliant achievement, he is not working class and not a hero. Beckham was worshipped, working class, Andy Murray won Wimbledon twice, the first British male to win since 1936 and tennis players have to train do hard, he is brilliant, he is not a hero.

Skills/talent do not make heroes, if so do we class the Brontes, W H Auden, Orwell as heroes ?

Men who went to war are heroes, not footballers , and for me calling footballers heroes takes away the true meaning of a hero

The dictionary disagrees with you Annie .

I don’t care Gilly, I cannot compare a footballer or any sports person with men of WW1 and WW2 and other wars ,

Elvis Presley a hero? why not add him to the list

No one has a list and I know you don’t care but there are different kinds of hero’s whether you ageee or not .

Agree not ageee

I don’t think anyone was comparing . Just saying there are different kinds of hero’s .

Not for me, I cannot see heroism in a footballer ,

A hero can be someone who has done something outstanding but not necessarily dangerous or life threatening
I would think a hero can go from the highest accolade ie a war hero or a life saving hero, to someone who does an every day difficult job ie a nurse or paramedic or to a much lower class of hero ie a sports personality or someone else who has done their job exceptionally well
It’s a word that can have many different meanings to many different people

Take a work situation and you needed some work done by a deadline and you were running late and a work colleague offers to help you you might say ‘ thank you you ve saved my life (obviously not really) you’re a real hero’

Leaving aside the dictionary definitions, isn't the essence of performing heroically, and by extension of being a hero, acting in a manner above and beyond what is expected of the person or team concerned? Heroes don't necessarily win, or if they do they win against the odds. Roger Federer and Serena Williams aren't heroes but superstars. An unseeded nonentity who takes them to the very edge of defeat performs heroically, irrespective of whether he or she wins or loses. Sporting heroes have probably been around since the original Olympic Games.

The word is overused, like so many in our hyperbolic world, but nobody is suggesting that football "heroes" are somehow more worthy than firefighters or cave rescuers.

On further reflection, does the problem lie with the same noun being used to describe someone who performs heroically, in the manner I sought to describe in my earlier post, and someone who performs an act of heroism, such as acting as a human shield?

And I am pleased to see the headline in Friday's Times: "Southgate rejects idea of England as heroes".

they are footballers they are paid exceptionally well to do a job ..end of.Heroes they are not.

As I have already stated earlier in the thread - the England World Cup footballers are heroes to many, many people. Maybe not to you paddyann, or many others who have posted here, but if they are seen as heroes by other people then you can't take that away from them, no matter what you say.
So heroes they are......... all be it sporting heroes.............and that's the end of it!!!

So there are heroes in all walks of life? Sports heroes, political heroes, where else?

Heroes ? Words fail me, thankfully, or I would be booted off here.

I'm not interested in competitive sports or in football. In international competitions, I don't like the way it all morphs into a display of so-called patriotism, often accompanied by a degree of animosity towards other countries, with much hysteria and flag waving, and sometimes hooliganism. I have, though, dipped in a couple of times during this World Cup.

I have much admiration for this young team and for most of the footballers competing for other countries too. From what I've read, and from the little that I saw, the majority played in a sportsmanlike way.

I think the English team played well. I do not, however, think they are "heroes" but it is not their fault that they have been described as such. They probably don't see themselves as heroes. It is just the usual media hype.

Well, all I can say is there is a lot I admire about that team. I know they are paid a lot but they showed a lot of skill and expertise. Like the dancers at the ROH when I saw Swan Lake. How do they do it? Years of training and practice.
My heroes? Wellington, Churchill, and all the people who get up early to work in our NHS.