But Mark Perryman, author of Ingerland: Travels with a Football Nation, and the co-founder of the Philosophy Football T-shirt company, which organised the event, agrees with Bragg that theflag and the football team are among the few things English people have to illustrate their national identity.
The biggest threat to their chances of winning will come from an all-English trio of Jamie Staff, Matt Crampton and Jason Kenny competing under theflag of sponsors Science in Sport.