World Forums

Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden


3 10-Jun-06 Frankfurt ENG:PAR 15:00
4 10-Jun-06 Dortmund TRI:SWE 18:00
19 15-Jun-06 Nuremberg ENG:TRI 18:00
20 15-Jun-06 Berlin SWE:PAR 21:00
35 20-Jun-06 Cologne SWE:ENG 21:00
36 20-Jun-06 Kaiserslautern PAR:TRI 21:00

Very difficult to predict. I'm thinking Paraguay more and more. Paraguay first, England second, Sweden third, T&T fourth.

I had England as second favs to win it all not too long ago. But you have to think the injuries to Owen and Rooney will hurt England. Owen especially, who has a fantastic scoring rate for England. As well, the SGE thing.

As well, Sweden seem to have Englands number and T&T would love nothing more than to defeat them.

Don't know too much about Sweden but they pin a lot of hope on Ibrahimovic, who has nothing short of dreadful in this calender year.

England always seem to have such good teams but just do not perform well in the WC. So I will go with Sweden with England next. We are going to have our butts kicked but I hope we get at least one win. Specially against you know who.

Sweden - England - Paraguay - T&T

Hmmm. I certainly hope England to win this one. Don't want to see England vs Germany in the 2nd round already!

Just lose to Poland then! ;)

No way. Germany cannot afford a tactical loss. We must play to win every game, even in case this means a harder knockout path.

Germany displaying its best in the first game has been problematic even at the best of times. Nowadays even more so.

I think it would be a draw. Not too far-fetched prediction considering than Germany's best forward is a Pole:)

Losing Rooney is devestating to England's WC aspirations. I cannot imagine who will fill his role now. In fact, I think this will hurt Michael Owen, as he won't have somebody drawing primary attention from opposing defenses.

For me, Rooney is the only English forward capable of running straight at defenses with some degree of confidence. This is really unfortunate, as I was hoping to see him in action this summer.

Not to mention he is hot looking.

Nah, if he's lost it'sterribly sad for England because he's a great player who makes brilliant plays but....hot looking...what on earth have you been drinking Buzz?

Come on! With a figure like that! I think he is cute.

I think Buzz got Rooney confused with Beckham.

England is finished. It's a shame really.

Now they will end up playing like they did after Rooney left the match against Portugal at the Nations Cup in Portugal two years ago. They will bunker down and counter in the big games.

I hope Sven won't take Crouch to Germany, this thought alone makes me sick. And I have to agree with Markino. It's hard to contemplate any meaningful English attack without Wayne Rooney.

Beckham was hot (i don't really like that word for a description) before he started to look like a walking christmas three. He's got a blissed left foot though.

Crouch? I've read in the Swedish papers that SGE is still holding a spot open on the roster for Rooney but also that he has more than one bone broken in his feet why it's likely a case of being over optimistic.

The latest from England, if I got it right, is that if Sven-Goran gets a definite verdict from doctors that Rooney has no chance, then he wouldn't be selected. Extending him a courtesy up until the final game is more the sign of desperation than anything else. Never mind how exactly England is going to reach the final without Rooney. So far I haven't seen Sven as a great tactician with England.

Leo - I mean it was so obvious in that match against Portugal.

With Rooney, they are a TOTALLY different team. They attack because Sven-Goran allows them to attack with Rooney. Without him, he changes tactics and goes to a counter game.

At this point, he should leave Rooney at home and bring the best healthy players available. Play the youngsters and throw caution to the wind.

They have a good squad with guys like Terry, Lampard and Gerrard. If Owen finds his form, they could win some games but Sven-Goran has to let them play. Man what a difference Rooney could have made!

Markino

I agree with you again, unfortunately there aren't too many coaches nowadays capable of throwing caution to the wind. Doesn't look like Sven-Goran is one of them. It's much like modern politicians, most of the time playing it safe and almost instinctively seeking the middle ground. Maybe in politics most of votes are in the middle, and in football midfield is extremely important as well, but the goals are scored most of the time in the penalty area or nearby. It's a real pity that overwhelmingly the best forwards in the Premiership are foreigners. Rooney's injury only proved one more time how much England's lacking the depth offensively.

Leo - Well yeah. Sven-Goran was a good coach while in Italy even if his tactics weren't anything new. He had a good team with Lazio in the late 90s and he won the Scudetto in 2000 without throwing caution to the wind.

But England has quite good result with Erikson compared to what they had before him, haven't they? They were suck with Keegan and others...

Looks as if Erikson has his stubborn crash helmet as regards Rooney:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup ... 92,00.html

England is still advancing from the group, though, Rooney's multiple-bone-break nonwithstanding.

Never like Beckham much and would prefer Rooney over Beckham both on the "hottest" list and as a player. All those weird hairdos and tattoos just does not do it for me.

England has many good players so I do not think Rooney absense will make much of a difference. NOt that they were going to get far anyway.

They should, anything else would be nothing less than a disgrace. Sometimes shit happens though....ask any Swedish hockeyfan about an olympic game against Belarus....

About Sweden ..I'm cautiously optimistic.

England can do well witout Rooney, notwithstanding the fact that it would be far easier with him.

We were never going to win it despite all the hype that this team had a chance.

However, Joe Cole has been playing far better than he has for a long time and if given a chance could make an impact. Goals from midfield are always on the cards, just look at what Lampard and Gerrard do in the PL and Beckham can always score with a free kick or two.

The problems will start if SGE begins to mess about with the formation, something he's prone to doing to accomodate the best players instead of simply picking the best players for the formation they're used to.

Agreed.

After all, imagine if Ukraine lost Shevchenko. England is filled with talented players and loss of Rooney, while significant, is not lethal to the English team. Loss of Shevchenko in Ukraine would be akin a death knell.

I disagree with you on Beckham Buzz, if you've ever digged into some deeper interviews with him and not only paparazzi clips where he tries to escape annoyances you can see he has got some sense of brightness and seem to be a quite down to earth carachter despite coming from a rather simple background making it up to big money and fame (and what's wrong with enjoying it, as long as enjoying it doesn't offend someone else?). I have also managed to catch some reruns of some kids sportschannel where he teaches kids various drills and I'm telling you, the guy has waaay better composure for it than the average beerleaguer parent hoping his kid will reach stardom and fame in sports that usually train kids. It may sound contradictory because he carries sometimes too much of a temper with him otherwise on the pitch and perhaps in other situations but not in that situation. Almost that perfect blend of elegance and malice.

That kind of bugged me a bit while I was in England, a lot of people seemed to think that Becks was a bit of a priss while a guy like Gascoigne was regarded as a "funny bloke".

Wayne Rooney is hot ? when ? hey, whatever turns your crank...

I thought I misread and was speaking about Owen (who I wouldn't classify as "hot", if I was a female, but he is handsome)

Fuquit wrote:England can do well witout Rooney, notwithstanding the fact that it would be far easier with him.

We were never going to win it despite all the hype that this team had a chance.

However, Joe Cole has been playing far better than he has for a long time and if given a chance could make an impact. Goals from midfield are always on the cards, just look at what Lampard and Gerrard do in the PL and Beckham can always score with a free kick or two.

The problems will start if SGE begins to mess about with the formation, something he's prone to doing to accomodate the best players instead of simply picking the best players for the formation they're used to.

Unfortunately I can't share your optimism. No matter what you say about the midfield, there simply isn't anybody with the kind of big game direct punch scoring ability of Wayne Rooney. His presence would indeed create the opportunities that the midfield could take to score. Without him, guys like Gerrard and Lampard won't be able to make and take opportunities for themselves...they are more or less suppliers of passes.

I agree that Joe Cole is interesting, but I think he is too unstable and tends to drift out of games at times. Sure, he can sometimes come up with the unexpected, but I can't see him doing this consistently against a power team in a knockout match.

Losing Rooney is a crushing blow, pure and simple.

Pabs wrote:Wayne Rooney is hot ? when ? hey, whatever turns your crank...

I thought I misread and was speaking about Owen (who I wouldn't classify as "hot", if I was a female, but he is handsome)

I didn't say Owen isn't a hottie too. Rooney is in excellent shape, nice abs, loads of stamina...

Soca Warriors planning upset

PORT OF SPAIN

The smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup is planning on causing one of the tournament's biggest upsets.

Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean twin-island nation of 1.3 million people, play England on June 15 in Nuremberg, Germany, and coach Leo Beenhakker isn't writing off his team's chances.

"If we played England ten times, they'd win seven times," Beenhakker said. "But you know we'd at least surprise them once. The beauty of the World Cup is when we hit the field anything is possible."

Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Kelvin Jack noted the upset by Senegal, a former French colony, over France in the opening match at the 2002 World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago is a former British colony.

"They're a sleeping giant waiting to fulfill its potential," Jack said of England. "But who's to say we can't pull a victory out. I mean, Senegal beat France. If anybody knows football, they know that they shouldn't underestimate the other side. You have to respect your opponent."


The Soca Warriors are intent on advancing from Group B-which also includes Sweden and Paraguay -and will head to Europe for three weeks of training after a friendly against Peru next week.

The team-led by former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, 38-year-old midfielder Russell Latapy, West Ham's Shaka Hislop and forward Stern John-will undergo psychological testing in camp.

"The players have to believe victory is possible," Beenhakker said. "Every weekend, weaker teams all over the world beat tougher ones. We're not going to Germany to lose, otherwise why pack our bags? We have a shot at making the second round."

The 47th-ranked Soca Warriors open against Sweden on June 10 in Dortmund and play their last group game versus Paraguay in Kaiserslautern on June 20.

"No one is expecting anything from us," Beenhakker said. "But that is to our advantage. We have nothing to lose and nothing to prove."

Here's the England squad. SGE obviously has the option of changing it before the WC but it's a clear indication of his plans:

Paul Robinson
David James
Robert Green

Gary Neville
Rio Ferdinand
John Terry
Ashley Cole
Sol Campbell - Hopefully only as a backup, he's not a well man.
Jamie Carragher
Wayne Bridge

David Beckham
Michael Carrick
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Owen Hargreaves - Silly useless bugger, versatile but why? Again!!
Jermaine Jenas
Stewart Downing
Aaron Lennon - Good decision, very quick and could do well.

Joe Cole

Wayne Rooney
Michael Owen
Peter Crouch
Theo Walcott - Great prospect, WAY too soon to take him to the WC.

Standby:

Carson
Young
Reo-Coker
Defoe
Johnson

The fringe players not there are Wright-Phillips, Defoe and King.

Defoe may well still get in because either Owen or Rooney won't be fit.

Bent has been scoring at will in the PL, if a teenager was going to be risked it could of been him instead of Walcott.

Looks like SGE is hoping for goals from midfield and Lampard will probably play as an attacking MF behind a lone striker. It's an attacking squad and SGE might be forced to play to Englands strengths due to Rooney being out.

The worry is that Owen isn't yet fit. Rooney won't be fit. Walcott is unproven.

So we have Crouch, a player who many say isn't an out an out striker but is very good at opening things up for his strike partner.

That strike partner looks like it could be.....Lampard from an AM position.

I like the fact that SGE is taking chances but I think he needed to be more conservative with the 4th striker.

Interesting stuff.

Wright-Phillips - Another big signing of Chelsea that did not amount to much of anything at all.

Rooney is a huge loss for England. And with Owen hurt, they ain't looking so hot up front

I mean, Peter Crouch?

And bringing Wolcott is just bizarre . . .

Peter Crouch....Luc Longley should be elegible too to play for Her Majesty. That would be a great attacking pair.

heh @ leo

ROTFLMAO !!! Holy shit, this is fucking funny...

WC 2006 England song (not official, obviously)

http://www.titsoutsong.co.uk/