Thursday 10 June 2010

So what, really, of England's chances?

There's always huge optimism before a World Cup. Since 1996 the St George's flags come out, the paparazzi chase players, staff and WAGs around the world, the newspapers blow hot, and the pundits all say, "semi-finals, at least."
What the pundits base their predictions on I have no idea. England have a pretty poor record in World Cups: one win on home soil in 1966 and one semi-final in Italy in 1990. I think the pundits (mainly ex-players) think they owe some sort of loyalty to the current players, but it's usually misplaced.

Basically England are a quarter final country; eighth in the FIFA rankings now backs that up solidly. Sadly, England - unlike other countries, such as, Sweden (3rd 1994), Bulgaria (4th 1994), Croatia (3rd 1998), Turkey (3rd 2002), South Korea (4th 2002) - never perform above their station. In fact, disappointingly, the sum of England's parts is always less than the whole. They always underperform.

Even Fabio capello deosn't appear to have knocked the current mob into shape. Recent friendly performances have been depressingly poor, and Fabio seems to be finding it hard to contain his anger - cue attack on paparazzi yesterday.

Back to the football, and how might England fare? Some people say it's an easy group. I'm not so sure. England are 8th in the world; the USA are not far behind at 14, Algeria are 30, and Slovenia have recently improved to 25. Its easy to see a draw with the USA, leaving us having to beat Algeria to recover a strong position.

I think England will qualify for round two, but we may have to settle for second place. If that is the case, then the Germans will be likely second round opponents. And we all know what happens next.

No comments:

Post a Comment