Good morning to you, the World Cup seems to be livening up a bit now. I'm not sure the quality has improved all that much but as the room for error has diminished down to nothing in these final group games teams are forced to come out and play much more than they were in the opening fixtures.
The newspapers here are of course all full of England's belated decision to begin their World Cup campaign after what they evidently thought were two warm up games against the United States and Algeria. I watched their whole game against Slovenia yesterday and they were vastly improved from their previous efforts. They still only managed the one goal and made life unnecessarily difficult for themselves but that's just what England do and their fans should be more than used to that by now.
They were, as Fabio Capello noted in his post match interview, at least recognizable as the team that did so well in qualifying. I know a lot of Arsenal fans will be cheering England on at this World Cup, so I suppose I can just about write something nice about them, even if I can't quite bring myself to support them.
I shouldn't have to write too many pleasant things about England though, as there's every chance they'll be on their way home on Sunday evening. Germany's entertaining clash with Ghana ended with the Germans securing the top spot in their group, and as a result they'll play England in the first knockout round.
It would seem therefore that England's customary quarter final loss on penalties has been brought forward by one round. I think my money would be on Wayne Rooney and John Terry missing the crucial spot kicks at the moment. If you're an Arsenal fan and you're behind England at this tournament, you must surely find the thought of those two weeping in dispair after missing penalties at least relatively bearable. A consolation prize at the very least.
In term's of Arsenal players there was no involvement in yesterday's games, however reported transfer targets Joe Cole and Mark Schwarzer were in action. Cole seemed intent on showcasing his diving abilities and a rather more useful talent for running down the clock at the end of a tense game.
Schwarzer had a mixed game, pulling off an astounding save in the first half of Australia's clash with Serbia, however he was very much culpable for Serbia pulling a goal back late on. However, if you think that should disqualify him as a candidate for the Arsenal goalkeeping position I would suggest you've forgotten quite how bad Almunia was last season.
Today will apparently see Nicklas Bendtner miss out on Denmark's last group game due to a groin injury which is of course what kept him out for a large part of last season, so that news does cause me to feel a slight quickening of the pulse. I could do without next season's injury crisis starting already, thank you very much.
The other game of interest to Arsenal fans today sees Robin Van Persie's already qualified Holland play Alex Song's already eliminated Cameroon. Let's play that one out to a nice tepid injury-less 0-0 draw, eh chaps?
Away from the World Cup, Harry Redknapp's claim that Joe Cole may have already signed for Manchester United appears to be wide of the mark. Sky Sports claims to "understand" that Manchester United are not interested in the winger. So from one unreliable claim to another, the story goes on. Happily we should know one way or the other fairly soon as England appears to be closing in on a World Cup exit.
There's a new goalkeeper on the scene as well as we're linked with a move for Cagliari goalkeeper Federico Marchetti. His club's president is quoted as saying they hope to hang on to him in the light of his appearing for Italy at the World Cup. However he doesn't rule out considering any offers that may be forthcoming, so we'll have to wait and see if this one has anything to it.
Apparently William Gallas fancies a move to Juventus. His agent is quoted as saying:
"I can confirm Gallas' interest in Juventus,"
"As soon I return to Europe I'll meet Juventus' leaders to find a financial agreement after making first contact a few days ago.
"Juventus want Gallas and William would be happy to wear the Bianconeri jersey."
I've long since written off any chance of Gallas staying so I can't say it bothers me too much where he goes. I think it will be to the ultimate benefit of the team that such an obviously divisive individual leaves the club. A great defender certainly, but it's been made abundantly clear he's not a popular man in the dressing room.
And that's about it for today. I know some Barcelona player has been taking his turn to talk about Cesc but do we really need to cover that ground every time one of their little minions pops up with a Barca DNA quote? I think not. Have a good day, enjoy the football, and I'll be back tomorrow.
