Kaiser Franz has a point

With the group stages drawing to a close I've still rather mixed feelings over this World Cup. The games have definitely improved and it's been the South Americans, Argentina in particular, that have given the best entertainment so far. Germany have played well - even in the game against Serbia it was more a case of everything going wrong rather than playing poorly as such. However, England have been dreadful. The game against Algeria must rate as one of the most tedious I've seen but they did play well against Slovenia for about 60 minutes. The first 15 minutes looked edgy and they looked pretty desperate after Rooney went off - although whilst he was on the pitch he looked every inch the world class player he is. However, it took a goalkeeping fumble to win the game and Terry's impression of a discombobulated Subbuteo player was pretty indicative of the passion over quality that most of the team displayed.

Anyway, England have qualified for the last 16 but in failing to finish top of their group they have blown what must have been the peachiest draw for a major finals in their history. Now, they most likely face a tough run of matches with Argentina, Brazil and Spain likely to be their opponents if, and it's a very big if, they can get past Germany in the last 16. The English based press have gone mental over this and, as well as predicting a world cup win, are trying to regurgitate two world wars as well. The Daily Mash sums up this reporting nicely. Even the coverage of the Ghana-Germany match on ITV has been too much and we ended up switching over to Das Erste to watch the game in peace. One of my colleagues watched the ITV coverage and said it made the most frothing-at-the-mouth Tartan Army stalwart's attitude to England look decidedly chummy. Funny how that double standard works considering the Daily Mail got hot under the collar when it emerged that half of Scotland couldn't give two hoots how England did.

The latest thing that the press are getting into a lather about is comments made by Franz Beckenbauer regarding the England team. Contrary to what has been printed in the press in Blighty, Der Kaiser hasn't been standing outside the Ing-ur-land team hotel shouting "Come and have a go if you think your hard enough" but has actually been giving his views as a TV pundit. In fact, overall, he has had some sympathy for the team and manager. He described their style of play as "kick and run". From what I've seen it's been "hoof it and hope" as very few long balls seem to have found a player in an England shirt. The rest of his comments would ring true to any but the most rose tinted fan: There are too many overseas players in the English leagues; not enough young players are given opportunities; they play far too many games in the season; they haven't had enough practice with the ball. I can't see that any of this is a criticism of the England team - but it's a pretty damning indictment of the FA and their obsession with money over football.

Based on the first three matches of this competition I would say England don't stand a chance against Germany on Sunday. They do, however, have one trick left up their sleeve. Sheer bloody mindedness. Beckenbauer rightly noted that "Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and John Terry sense that this could be the last chance in their career to win a World Cup" and that in Capello they do have a coach who is capable of disciplining them into a coherent unit. They could pull off a result on Sunday. If they do, I can't honestly see them getting any further but they will have salvaged personal and national pride. If they do lose at least I'll have some harmony in my household.