Warm up friendlies

[Bomber]

Italy 1 Luxembourg 1

[Stuckey]

Argentina 3 Trinidad & Tobago 0

Japan 3 Costa Rica 1

[Bomber]

Ecuador 2 England 2 (red card to both teams at 79th minute, Sterling & Valencia) - interesting!

[Juventino]

Italy 1 Luxembourg 1

It would be more of a shock if Italy did well in friendlies.

[Stuckey]

Italy 1 Luxembourg 1

It would be more of a shock if Italy did well in friendlies.

Or the first round!

[ozzie owl]

Ecuador 2 England 2 (red card to both teams at 79th minute, Sterling & Valencia) - interesting!

England back up defenders looked pretty shaky.

[Bomber]

Croatia v Oz pretty average game. Still cant see anything much from the Oz boys and clearly this team will be a work in progress - shame it has to sprout at the most important tournament in the world!

[Old Master]

Croatia v Oz pretty average game. Still cant see anything much from the Oz boys and clearly this team will be a work in progress - shame it has to sprout at the most important tournament in the world!

I think Ange has done the right thing in blooding all these young players at the WC.

This squad is going to be the squad for the Asian Championships here in Australia and he will have a team that will be used to all the pressure - let's face it Australia had no chance of winning or even drawing with the squad he inherited so he might as well prepare for a tournament he has a chance of winning.

If we get anything more than one point from the group we are in I'll be happy beyond words.

[Knight15]

Looking at lead up games England look like being the real joke of the World Cup again, with our group we are expected to fail, but if they don't get through (and I doubt they will) watch the English press eat them alive

[ozzie owl]

Looking at lead up games England look like being the real joke of the World Cup again, with our group we are expected to fail, but if they don't get through (and I doubt they will) watch the English press eat them alive

I agree the English press will have field day if results are poor.

[Asahi Super Dry]

In other words you're saying the press will have a field day.

[N5 1BH]

Looking at lead up games England look like being the real joke of the World Cup again, with our group we are expected to fail, but if they don't get through (and I doubt they will) watch the English press eat them alive

‘Real joke’ is a bit harsh, while England did play poorly in 2010 (the Germans also put 4 past Australia & Argentina) and 13th place was I think the only time they finished outside the top 10, surely the French were the real joke of the last world cup. From what I’ve seen the English media across the board have quite realistic, even low expectations for England this time around due to their relative youth & inexperience together with the strength of the opposition. Even the bookies have them at around 26 to 1 to win the cup, with Italy and Uruguay favourites to get through the group.

[Stuckey]

Ghana 4 South Korea 0. Ghana smashing them on the counter. South Korea had much of the possession but Ghana pushed them wide and most of the time that resulted in South Korea coughing the ball up.

[Stuckey]

Portugal 5 Ireland 1. Ronaldo got a good 65min hit out. Ireland's goal came from Portugal having a slumber party just outside their penalty area. Nani should have made it 6 with a sensational first time passing display but just strayed offside at the final moment.

[DOC]

weak ireland side, wouldn't read too much into that

[Stuckey]

weak ireland side, wouldn't read too much into that

I'm not sure I think maybe Ireland might be going with four up front in the future!

I reckon I saw Ronaldo almost break into a sprint once!

[Old Master]

Looking at lead up games England look like being the real joke of the World Cup again, with our group we are expected to fail, but if they don't get through (and I doubt they will) watch the English press eat them alive

‘Real joke’ is a bit harsh, while England did play poorly in 2010 (the Germans also put 4 past Australia & Argentina) and 13th place was I think the only time they finished outside the top 10, surely the French were the real joke of the last world cup. From what I’ve seen the English media across the board have quite realistic, even low expectations for England this time around due to their relative youth & inexperience together with the strength of the opposition. Even the bookies have them at around 26 to 1 to win the cup, with Italy and Uruguay favourites to get through the group.

The press will still get stuck into them if they fail to progress to the next phase - it's in their DNA.

[DOC]

weak ireland side, wouldn't read too much into that

I'm not sure I think maybe Ireland might be going with four up front in the future!

I reckon I saw Ronaldo almost break into a sprint once!

had long, cox, doyle, keane all on at one stage

as I said, MON rotated his squad and portugal started with probably 90% of their best 11

[Knight15]

Looking at lead up games England look like being the real joke of the World Cup again, with our group we are expected to fail, but if they don't get through (and I doubt they will) watch the English press eat them alive

Hmmmmm

[N5 1BH]

Looking at lead up games England look like being the real joke of the World Cup again, with our group we are expected to fail, but if they don't get through (and I doubt they will) watch the English press eat them alive

Hmmmmm

They played decent football but narrowly lost 2 games (that could have easily gone the other way) against top 10 sides, how does that make them a joke?

The media, even the dopey Sun back Hodgson to continue with the young players. Most blame is directed where it belongs, at the FA and EPL chairmen. Who is getting eaten alive?

[Knight15]

You can't be serious - a proud Football Nation, played 2, lost 2 with the top team still to come, no surprise they haven't done anything since 1966 if your happy with that, personally I'd be delighted if they kept Roy but for different reasons

[Soccer-Mad]

You need to look at population sizes to come to an idea of where the winners come from. But Spain & England with large populations have failed their fans. Italy to follow I think as well. So much more to say about small nations like Netherlands & Costa Rica....

[Stuckey]

You need to look at population sizes to come to an idea of where the winners come from. But Spain & England with large populations have failed their fans. Italy to follow I think as well. So much more to say about small nations like Netherlands & Costa Rica....

IMO population has nothing to do with how good a footballing nation should be. Its all about how good the governing body is and how well they implement what they want.
Hence why India and China do nothing and Netherlands have always punched above their weight if you're looking at population.