They used to mark out borders with stone walls and checkpoints. These days, though, in the world of international football, dividing lines are made of elastic.
Wee wants to swap paella for pie and chips while Scottish players pledge their hearts to the Republic of Ireland. Worse still, those with peas for brains want them burned at the stake as traitors.
If emotion were measured by goals then St Mirren will lose by a barrowload on Saturday.
The Paisley club will find themselves battling the tide in a sea of love directed towards . You would imagine that it is a football match that Dundee United just cannot lose.
He was just about the only chairman I can recall whose name was chanted by fans - in adulation that is - and the embracing of his memory will be strengthened by the . Even from beyond the grave, that wee man controls the destiny of the football club he adored.
He's no wallflower, but, when the substitutions were made at Hampden on Saturday, Kris Boyd had the disbelieving face of the schoolgirl left behind when the dancing partners were picked.
But it wasn't the shock some people think. There were plenty whispered asides among the coaches in the camp about his lack of industry and enthusiasm and his big huffy face.
For all that, I still found myself scratching my head in disbelief.
Once, of course, . Visiting teams were blown away in its infamous swirl, deafened into submission by its legendary roar.
Sadly, these days it is renowned for its hospitality to visiting nations. "Come away in and enjoy yourselves. And here's a point or three to take home with you."
All that must change when Saturday comes. .
Norway must be despatched homeward across the North Sea, their World Cup dream in tatters. It's them or us.
. Not arithmetically but realistically.
Launch the Uefa Cup lifeboat.
With only two matches down and 12 points still up for grabs, it's still mathematically possible for Gordon Strachan's side to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
But football isn't played by mathematicians. The stark truth is that and Villarreal are acts too classy for the Scottish champions. It's jackets off for a straight fight with Aalborg for the Uefa Cup place.
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"Tell them who you are and what you are about," they said. To be honest, there are days when I struggle to remember myself. Forty years toiling at the coalface of football journalism does that to you. But I have reason to believe that I have reached the heady heights of the title of Football Correspondent of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland which gives me a renown, in Scottish terms, of somewhere between Alex Salmond and the deep fried Mars Bar.
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