FIFA World Cup Scores: Typical England Do It Again

The World Cup venue might change, but little else as far as England fans are concerned.

With no disrespect to the USA, yet another finals game that England’s over-confident fans consider a shoo-in, turns out to be anything but. Why it takes so long for those of us English to learn about our national team isn’t immediately clear?

Without exception, well take out 1966, England has been good at one thing at the World Cup, hyping themselves up and then failing to deliver. South Africa 2010 promises to be no different. Like a broken record, the script for England now goes as follows:

• Beat Algeria
• Beat Slovenia
• Hype the team up again
• Lose to the first decent team they meet in the knock out stages.

The only downside for the USA was that they didn’t meet England in the round of 16 because they would almost certainly have snatched it narrowly, probably on penalties and ensured themselves passage into the last eight.

England for once started the game brightly and Gerrard’s goal was an excellent bit of play, with the much maligned Heskey slotting through a lovely ball for the Liverpool man to run on to.

However, as the game progressed the USA were bound to score and even if Green hadn’t made his mistake, someone else would have.

The USA deserved their point but why England failed to take note of a team that defeated Spain last year and ran Brazil close in the confederations Cup Final remains a mystery.

The aftermath, of course, has been scathing in England. “Stars n Tripe” stated one headline as England’s press do what they do best, hype the nation’s football team up and bring them down to Earth with an almighty bang.

Capello himself takes some share of the blame. His assertion that he would take players to the World Cup and play them who were in form and playing regularly has a hollow ring to it now. England’s team of prima donnas, half fit and out of form, can at least console themselves with their bank balance as they ponder another sponsorship deal.

The simple fact to be faced by English football fans is that yet again the national team will be shown to be woefully short when it comes to playing tournament football and once more the old questions about whether the national game needs a revamp (no chance of that judging by the FA’s poor management of our national game) will be subject to some navel gazing and then forgotten about as the Premier League band wagon rolls into town in August.

The English players aren’t good enough to perform outside of their own back door, internationally, certainly not against the big boys of World Football, and perhaps plying their trade outside of the cocooned world of the Premier League might be a one to ponder.

As a nation England exports the least amount of players of any major nation in world football.

Finally, as soon as the World Cup draw was made last December, I put a bet on England to draw 1-1 with the USA. This morning I’m counting my winnings.

Maybe I can now afford to go out to South Africa…at least England’s predictability can be capitalised upon!