(London, June 3) I had no sooner finished reporting that the English seemed inordinately quiet about their World Cup hopes than I found someone who felt strongly that this was their year and wasn’t afraid to tell people about it.

“If you don’t believe in your team, why bother?” he told me. His name was Mal and he was selling t-shirts emblazoned with his original designs at the Portobello Road market. In addition to shirts with positive messages picturing luminaries ranging from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Dalai Lama, he’s got a special World Cup shirt that he’s selling now.

The artwork is taken from a famous photo of England’s 1966 squad celebrating their World Cup victory. He’s modified it so that it shows David Beckham holding the trophy and the teammates in the photo are now anonymous, with a question mark over their faces. There is a date—July 9, 2006, the date of this year’s final—and a single word: Believe.

He explained that he thought it was important to hope for good results, reasoning that you have to dream big dreams to achieve big results. He genuinely thinks that England can do it, although he realizes that it’s not a sure thing.

“If they don’t win, well, at least I’ve sold a few shirts. But if they do win,” he added, grinning, “I’m a genius.”

If you’d like to order a shirt direct from the artist, Mal can be reached via e-mail here. Having seen them in person, I can tell you that they’re high-quality—the shirts are from American Apparel and the artwork has been applied with a craftsman’s care.