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World Cup: England to win

It has been 44 years of hurt, but South Africa 2010 will see England finally win the World Cup. No, you did not misread that, England will be champions and remember where you read it first. If England fail to win it this time around, they will not likely to lift the trophy anytime soon – and they can be certain of that.

There is ever the problem with England when it comes to such tournaments – the constitutional high expectations that the country must win and should win anything and everything, which is then subsequently followed by the traditional quarterfinals exit, then followed by the even more traditional "
England will win it all next time"
routine.

Campaign leader and manager Fabio Capello has been given a job which on the surface any manager would die for – to steer a side packed with some of the best talent in the world, including Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Jamie Carragher, Frank Lampard, and Ashley Cole, just to name a few. This is a powerful but aging England generation and if it fails to deliver now, it is difficult to imagine the successors accomplishing any better any time soon.

Arguably, England’s best in recent memory was in 1990, when the titanic side managed by Sir Bobby Robson should have been crowned world champions but bowed out on penalties to their traditional foe Germany despite outclassing them on the pitch.

England systematically underperformed in every World Cup and European Championship since then, with the exception of 1996, when England outclassed Germany in the semi-final (again) only for Paul Gascoigne to miss-kick the ball from the goal-line and lose on penalties (again).

Is it because the Three Lions have become too predictable, hoofing forward and in disarray? Is it because of the sheer volume of strength-sapping Premiership and domestic cups matches that leave players with nothing in the tank by June? Is it because of bad luck, poor tactics or poor referring and the "
hand of God"
that have denied England time and again their "
God-given right"
to win the World Cup? Perhaps it is all of the above.

England’s weaknesses this time around are also legion: David James, who is arguably the worst England keeper in decades and is one of the less talented in the tournament. England’s curse is to have great keepers coming in pairs, wondering what to do with them, as was the case with Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence (later David Seaman and Chris Woods), or have sweet Fanny Adams in goal.

The defence was weakened by the departure of Rio Ferdinand through injury, although Steven Gerrard assuming the captaincy is a plus as he is better at marshalling a side than Rio or John Terry put together.

Another weakness is Wayne Rooney’s temper – the lad is a ballistic missile with an extremely short fuse. Alex Ferguson managed it, but would Fabio Capello cope with his temper?

Under Sven Goran Eriksson, England were predictably boring, while under Steve McLaren they were simply hopeless. There is a ray of hope, an air of clinical efficiency and ruthlessness about England under Capello, as the Three Lions qualifying campaign showed (nine wins in 10 matches).

So, England fans must not worry in these last days before the tournament, always a time (helped by the influence of many lagers) when the philosophic side of football fans prevails. It is that unmistakable "
stay positive"
, "
cheerfulness in the face of adversity"
and "
stiff upper lip – bulldog spirit"
attitude that sets the English well apart from the pack.

As recently noted in the Irish Times, consider the following scenario: when England perform impressively before a World Cup in a friendly match, this translates into expectations that England will win the World Cup. And when England perform poorly, this stipulates that, once again, England will win the World Cup. Conclusion: England will win the World Cup.

So there you have it ladies and gents. Football is coming home and so is that oddly shaped Jules Rimet trophy.

Lets face it, the Dutch won’t win it, and neither will the Germans – not this time. Portugal will not reach the final, unless they meet England on the way and beat them in penalties. And Spain, who are arguably the best side in the tournament by a mile – somehow do not appeal to me as world champions.

So against all odds, and contrary to all logic, I am backing England to stop Argentina and prevent Diego Maradona from running around Buenos Aires naked. England must, for the sake of humanity, stop Maradona at all cost.

Alternatively, my hopes will be on the side of whoever transpires as this tournament’s "
surprise package"
. North Korea versus New Zealand, anyone?

ChrisQBG wrote:

fairly uninspiring

and that was me being polite ... won't tell you what I really thought of the match! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oiiiiiiiii you stop encouraging him behave

Oddy

I watched it to and I do think that Lemonade is a bit of an over kill maybe without the bubbles

sarah

USA Draw England 1:1 in World Cup Group C Match

The United States drew England in the first match of Group C of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa late Saturday night.

England's captain Steven Gerrard scored only four minutes after the start of the game at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.

The goal was returned by Clint Dempsey but only thanks to a blunder of England's goalkeeper Robert Green who let the ball slip off his hands and cross the goal line.

The English dominated most of the match but its players missed numerous chances to score largely thanks to the great game by US goalie Tim Howard.

Argentina Beat Nigeria 1:0 in 2nd World Cup Group B Match

Argentina has won its first game from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by beating Nigeria 1:0.

The only goal in the match was scored by Argentina's Gabriel Heinze, who headed the ball in the 6th minute after a corner kick of performed by Juan Sebastian Veron.

Argentina's star Lionel Messi contributed a great deal to the dynamic and exciting game but failed to score on numerous occasions as Nigerian goalkeeper Victor Enyeama showed superb reflexes.

Thus, the Argentinian team comes in second in Group B after the first round as earlier on Saturday South Korea beat Greece 2:0.

South Korea Marks 1st World Cup Win in Defeating Greece

The South Korean football team marked Saturday the very first victory at the World Cup in South Africa, Mondial 2010, by winning over the Greek national team.

The 2004 European champions, Greece, rarely threatened the well-organized and athletic South Korean team. The South Koreans impressed with goals in either half from Lee Jung-Soo in the 7th minute and Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung in the 52nd.

The players of Greece’s manager Otto Rehaggel disappointed their fans with Greece producing just two genuine targets on goal while, in contrast, Huh Jung-moo's team should have won by a larger margin had Monaco striker Park Chu-young been more precise in front of goal.

The game was held Saturday at the brand new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth and was the opening fixture of Group B.

If Endland play how they played last night then they don't have a hope

Same can be said for France Scott ... if they both carry on like that, they'll be out first round!

ChrisQBG wrote:

Same can be said for France Scott ... if they both carry on like that, they'll be out first round!

Well put ChrisQBG I think the same

Looks pretty normal for England. A 1-1 draw to start with. But how could we celebrate that especial y against the yanks and due to a goal keeping error to boot.

Come on guys, lets be positive They scored :: that is all that matters It's time to celebrate now!!!! The time will come when they are out so lets enjoy the success while we can

So well done England

Oddy

COME ON ENGLAND :Congtrats:COME ON ENGLAND

I saw you win in 1966 :: .

starlite wrote:

COME ON ENGLAND :Congtrats:COME ON ENGLAND

I saw you win in 1966 :: .

But in those days they had a good team of players and a very good manager, I'm sorry to say it but I don't think the same can be said for this world cup

World Cup update

On a day at football's World Cup when world No. 2 Spain was upset by Switzerland, host South Africa suffered a 3-0 loss to Uruguay.

South Africa and Uruguay were the first teams to play their second matches of the month-long tournament. Both had battled to draws in their Group A openers - South Africa had drawn 1-1 against Mexico and Uruguay had played to a scoreless draw against France. So all four teams were tied with one point.

That meant the winner of the South Africa-Uruguay match would take the group lead and a big step toward advancing to the second round. And it was Uruguay that prevailed, 3-0.

Diego Forlan was the big star for Uruguay. It was his 24th-minute long distance strike that temporarily silenced the blaring vuvuzelas of the partisan home crowd in Pretoria. Then he successfully converted a penalty kick in the 80th minute, a result of a red card against South African goalkeeper (Itumeleng Khune) for tripping an opponent near the goal.

Playing a man down the rest of the way gave the South Africans little chance to rally and they yielded the third goal to Alvaro Pereira on a close-in header in the dying moments of the match.

South African fan Sibusisu said the loss was quite disappointing. "
We expected the boys to win. And after everything that the country has gone through in supporting them and doing everything possible that they must win, because they had the 12th player which is fans. But then, for them to lose like that it was very disappointing,"
the fan said.

Another South African fan, Noziphu said she felt fans she has met from everywhere have been routing for her home team. "
All of the countries they were wishing for South Africa to win, but South Africa lost, so we don't know what to do now. We don't know. Ayeeesh! We are very disappointed,"
she said.

Sibusisu said his heart bleeds for his team so he hopes the South Africans can get a better result in their final Group match next week. "
It's so sad. It's so sad at the end of the day, yeah. It's so sad wearing this T-shirt and thinking you know what, I'm a South African for life, and I will go all-out to support the boys. But this game is gone, so let's focus on the next game which is France,"
he said.

That match is next Tuesday in Bloemfontein.

Before that, though, France plays Mexico Thursday night in Polokwane. That result will give a clearer picture of what South Africa will need in its final match to reach the second round.

Earlier Wednesday in Group H, Switzerland shocked world number-two Spain, 1-0, on a goal by Gelson Fernandes in the 52nd minute. It's only the second loss Spain has suffered in its last 50 matches.

In the other Group H match, another low-scoring affair, Chile edged Honduras, 1-0, on a goal by Jean Beausejour in the 34th minute. It was Chile's first World Cup victory in 48 years.

Mexico Destroy France 2:0 in World Cup Group A

Mexico's national football team defeated France 2:0 Thursday night in a Group A match of the World Cup 2010.

Mexico and France demonstrated a dynamic game with Mexico gaining the advantage towards the end of the match.

Mexico's forward J. Hernandez scored in the 69th minute;
this was followed by a goal by C. Blanco from a penalty kick in ten minutes lates.

At 37 years and 15 days, Blanco became the third oldest player to score in a FIFA World Cup. Mexico has registered its first ever victory over France.

After the first two rounds Uruguay and Mexico are in the Group A with 4 points each. France and the hosts from South Africa are third and fourth with 1 point each.