Road To The World Cup: Part Two
Path To Glory
It has now been over 3 weeks since the World Cup draw took place in Cape Town, South
Africa. The general feeling in the Country is that South Africa put on a good show.
There was a fantastic variety of Celebrities, Music, Entertainment and Video Clips
about the Host Country that made the spectacle (which looked laboriously long on
paper) interesting for both the Soccer lover and non-
Potentially, it could be a phenomenal tournament for England. The draw has been generous to Fabio Capello’s men, landing them in a group with USA, Algeria and Slovenia. In a recent poll on FIFA.com it was voted the 2nd easiest group in the tournament, with Italy’s group F taking 1st place in the voting.
In this article I hope to pave the way for England to lift the World Cup on July 12th in Soccer City, Johannesburg. I drove past the stadium yesterday and the stadium is looking class. The roads in the Johannesburg and Pretoria region are still looking far from complete though!
In reading this article, one must remember that there are never any ‘givens’ in Football,
as demonstrated aptly by Championship side Peterborough United this Monday. The relegation
threatened side trailed 4-
As a loyal, true and positive England supporter, here is the route that I think England will take to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup:
England’s 1st Group Game – England vs USA – Rustenburg – Sat 12th June 7.30pm (UK)
This game will definitely happen. It will be too early in the tournament for England to have been thrown out for failing to control their supporters (hopefully those days are behind us) and like the other two Round Robin matches it will go ahead irrespective of results.
The USA will provide stiff opposition for England. With the likes of Tim Howard, Jonathan Spector, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Hull City’s Altidore and soon Landon Donavon applying their trade in England’s top division there is no doubt that they will really be up for this match. However, on paper England are stronger and a professional performance from the 3 Lions should see them win! A win in this match would set England up really nicely in Group C.
England’s 2nd Group Game – England vs Algeria – Cape Town – Fri 18th June 7.30pm (UK)
Algeria managed to beat Egypt in a playoff to reach the World Cup, and that is no small feat. Also, the Algerians will have the support of the whole African continent, as they look for their first World Cup winner! However, anything but an England victory would be considered by most as a shock.
The weather in Cape Town will favour the English. The stunning City of Cape Town has a very similar climate to the UK, and with it being the start of the South African winter there is every likelihood that this fixture will take place in conditions that England’s players would experience in late October at home in the UK; possibly wet and maybe even cool enough for Joe Cole (if he makes the team) to put his gloves on! Everything is in place for an England win, which coupled with a good result against the USA in game 1 will see England through to the knockout stages with a game to spare.
England’s 3rd Group Game – England vs Slovenia – Port Elizabeth – Wed 23rd June – 3.30pm (UK)
Slovenia is one of the unknown teams in this World Cup. In their history they have won the least games out of all the 32 nations in the World Cup against the other nations in the tournament, winning just 7 out of 43 matches. England won the only previous encounter against their fellow Europeans.
If England win their first 2 World Cup matches, it is highly likely that Fabio Capello
will field a weakened side against Slovenia, resting his key players before the rigors
of Knock-
England’s 2nd Round Match – England vs Germany – Rustenburg – Sat 26th June – 7.30pm (UK)
This is a game that I am trying to get tickets for, because I believe it will be the game that England play in their 2nd Round match. Their opposition is less predictable though. If England win Group C, they will play the runner up of Group D. In my opinion group D is the most evenly matched group in the World Cup. Serbia, Germany, Ghana and Australia make up the group.
With Germany’s recent drop in form, and Michael Ballack’s admission that Germany are not the team they used to be, nor among the favourites to lift the famous Jules Rimet trophy, it would be a brave man who bets on a winner in this group. Any of the teams could win it. Any of the teams could come bottom. I personally fancy the teams to finish placed in the order I have put them above, meaning that England will be able to pit their wits against the old enemy.
England vs Germany is always an amazing encounter. Due to the history of the nations
more than football seems to be at stake, and such a match up in South Africa in 2010
would be fantastic for the tournament. Anything can happen in Knock-
England’s Quarter Final Match – England vs France – Soccer City – Fri 2nd July – 7.30pm (UK)
I already have tickets to this Quarter Final, so am willing England to get this far. It is very tough to predict who will get to this stage, but if England win their group and France win theirs, and they both win the corresponding 2nd round affairs, this will be the match up at Soccer City on July 2nd.
The stadium will be rocking. The 94,700 capacity means that it is slightly larger than Wembley, and if even half those seats are filled with vuvuzela blowing South Africans it will be a totally new experience for the England players. Spain complained during the confederations cup that it was impossible for them to communicate on the pitch due to the intense noise, and the stadiums that they played at was half the size of Soccer City. The England players will need to be on top of their game and know each other implicitly if they are to get through this experience.
By reaching this stage, it will also be England’s first opportunity to experience the stadium that will host the World Cup final. What a stage it would be if France were the opposition.
There are mixed emotions about France’s involvement in the tournament, following ‘Le Hand of Frog’. That is a whole other article on its own, but the bottom line is France are there and they could well be playing England on July 2nd. France, like Germany are shadows of their old selves, but with an aging side there is no lack of experience and this will be the final opportunity for many of their stars to strut their stuff at the biggest stage. It would be a fool who underestimates the French.
England’s Semi Final Match – England vs Brazil – Cape Town – Tues 6th July – 7.30pm (UK)
Such a match-
Having watched Brazil twice live in last years Confederations Cup, I cannot praise the job that Dunga has done highly enough. They were a phenomenal team. The best I have ever seen. If somebody else could do England a favour along the way and send the Brazilians packing that would really boost England’s chances... but if you want to win the World Cup, you need to have the ability to beat the best!
On our day we could beat the Brazilians, but on any other day they could beat us. Let us hope that July 6th is ‘our day’.
England’s World Cup Final – England vs Spain – Soccer City – Sun 11th July – 7.30pm (UK)
The England team is full of superstars on ludicrous salaries, with a staggering array of trophies and medals in their trophy cabinets, but you can bet that the majority of players in the England team as youngsters would have been willing to trade all of that to have one shot at winning the World Cup final.
When it comes to the World Cup final, it is all about who performs better on the day. It has been many years since there has been an unbelievable World Cup final, but every four years there is a memorable one. Hopefully this one will be memorable for England for the right reasons!
It is clear that England’s path to glory is paved with many daunting obstacles, but 6 or 7 good performances is all that stands between this England team and their place in history!
COME ON ENGLAND!
For The Love Of The Game
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