England are one of the competition favourites but if one thing can usually be counted on at a World Cup, it’s the English underachieving as they get knocked out on penalties in the quarter finals! You’d think English fans like myself would be used to the heartbreak and temper our expectations slightly!
Let’s start at the group stage. England’s group should cause them no problem. Slovenia and Algeria are as easy as it comes in the group stage and whilst the USA present a tougher challenge I really can’t look past England for top spot. The Americans should also comfortably progress into the round of 16.
If England top their group then the round of 16 will see them face the second placed team from one of the ‘Groups of Death’. That looks likely to be either Germany or Serbia although both Australia and Ghana could sneak in. Personally I hope Australia finish second, a World Cup ‘Ashes’ match would be fantastic for the game’s growth in Australia. Regardless I don’t think England would be too worried about facing any of those sides and they’d be fairly confident of progressing to the quarter finals.
The most likely quarter final on paper would seem to be England vs France. This obviously depends on the French finding some form, which after last night’s opening game looks a little dicey! Regardless France would be the biggest challenge for England in a quarter final, unless Argentina bottle it and finish second in their group which I can’t see happening. If England do come up against France I’d be pretty confident that they would get past them and progress to the Semi Finals.
Capello has stated that the Semi Finals is his first aim and If you look at the potential run above I do think it’s achievable. When you get to the Semi’s it’s a bit daft to start predicting results due to the variety of potential opponents. Brasil? Netherlands? Italy? They are the most likely opponents and they are teams that you are going to have to beat if you want to win the World Cup.
Can England do it? To be honest I think they’ll fall short. I’m quite confident that they will make the Semi Finals, but do they really have the ability to beat a team like Brasil or even the Dutch for that matter? As much as I’d like to see Stevie G lift the World Cup, unfortunately I just don’t see them having the quality required to go all the way. You never know though, if you get into the semi finals you’re always giving yourself a shot.
Prediction: Semi Final Exit to Brasil.
Similar Posts:
- What to expect from South Africa?
- Five defining moments in Australia’s World Cup
- It’s World Cup Time!
- Realising Your Dreams
