England, It's time to wake up and smell the failure

England have once again failed to live up to expectations at a major tournament. Is anyone really surprised?

I’ve allowed myself a full 24 hours to contemplate Sunday’s defeat to Germany before I reached for my keyboard. My intention was to try and get away from the fallout from the game, which consisted of repeatedly being shown replays of English ineptitude. Unfortunately I work for a newspaper and have spent most of my time over the last fortnight helping to write the World Cup updates. Within an hour of the full time whistle I had to write a report for the paper. Then I get to work Monday morning and am asked to write an opinion piece on the game. So it wasn’t until around lunchtime that I was able to get some respite from discussing how bad we are.

Now here I am again.

So, England are out of the World Cup. It’s as simple as that. The Three Lions could barely conjure up a purr let alone a roar as a team of German kids outclassed them. Five of the Germans on show yesterday played in the U21s team that lifted the European Championship last year. Only one of the members of the England team they beat in the final was there yesterday; James Milner – Joe Hart missed the final and was only a squad member here.

That could be taken in two ways. You could say that it shows the depth of talent that Germany have coming through the ranks, and it does. However it also shows that England’s squad of supposed World Class experience players like Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney etc were beaten by inexperienced kids, and beaten well.

It’s about time we accepted that we’re not as good as we think we are, even though we clearly should be. The individuals that we have are some of the best the World has to offer, but for some reason they can’t do it when it matters for their country.

It’s also obvious why. They just don’t care anymore.

The players will tell you differently. Lampard has gone on about how insulting it is to have that accusation made towards him, so why at the final whistle was he sharing a joke with Bastian Schweinstieger and now sat on the pitch, devastated and inconsolable? You only had to look at the bench and see the reaction of David Beckham to see what someone who cares feels like when England lose.

The campaign was doomed from the 40th minute of the first game in Rustenburg when Robert Green’s catastrophic error set the tone for what would turn out to be an utterly disappointing two weeks.
A dismal performance against Algeria reaffirmed the worry of the Barmy Army, but an overrated win against Slovenia gave fans a glimmer of hope. You just got that feeling that maybe they could turn it round. They were unbeaten and had conceded one goal, maybe its not all bad. That feeling didn’t last long, they were embarrassing and abysmal in the manner of their defeat on Sunday.



What disappointed me more than anything was the fact that during the game I didn’t feel nerves. Usually when England are playing an important game I am a nervous wreck and can barely sit still on my seat. I guzzle my beer at a rate of knots to try and calm myself. This time was different, I was oddly calm. In retrospect, I am convinced I felt this way because subconsciously I knew we’d lose. There was no point getting worked up because we’d set the tone for the tournament in the group stage, and it was a pretty negative one. The fact that our best player on Sunday night was a 39 year old who conceded four goals really speaks volumes about our national team.

David James made some excellent saves on Sunday and is probably the only man to come out of the defeat with any level of pride but he’s too old now and it’s time for Joe Hart to take over and make the position his own.

Glen Johnson continues to be a liability at right back. He can’t defend and too often puts the team in trouble. Gets in the way of the right winger and has a lot of learning to do.

John Terry was awful on Sunday and apart from the Slovenia game he wasn’t much better in the group stage. Too slow now and it was clear that without Ferdinand next to him he is no good at this level any more.

Matthew Upson scored a goal but played like a Sunday footballer. Was so far out of position for every German goal that you’d think he had an issue with John Terry and refused to stand near him! Not good enough at this level.

Ashley Cole had a decent tournament but was unnoticeable against Germany and got caught out of position far too often. One of the biggest prima donna culprits in the squad.

James Milner was class against Slovenia but ineffective in the second round. He’s one for the next World Cup.

Frank Lampard was once again a useless (insert swear words). This has become a regular thing for Frank. Brilliant for Chelsea, wears his heart on his sleeve but when he throws on an England shirt he ceases to care! Seeing him laughing at the end made me feel physically sick.

Steven Gerrard was admirable in his role as captain, but is wasted out on the left. Not his fault, but still wasn’t good enough. A shadow of the player he is on Merseyside.

Jermaine Defoe came in and did a job against Slovenia but was nowhere to be seen in this one. I don’t think you can class him as a non-carer though. I think he’s one of the few whose proud to be there.

Wayne Rooney was simply dreadful all tournament. I get the feeling he was still carrying an injury because he looked so far off the pace. This was meant to be the tournament that defined his career, instead he was largely anonymous and wasteful. The team needs to be built to suit him at the next World Cup.

Fabio Capello showed in qualifying that he is a fantastic manager who could get the best out of his players. Unfortunately he showed he has no idea how to manage a team in tournament mode. He was unwilling to admit defeat and change his tactics and ultimately it cost England. I am Heskey's biggest fan, but why he brought him on for Defoe when we needed goals beggars belief



As always England limp out of a tournament trying to blame everyone except themselves and wondering what if. What if Landon Donovan hadn’t scored in the last minute of USA versus Algeria? What if we’d topped the group and played Ghana to set up a quarter final clash with Uruguay? What if Lampard’s goal had rightly stood?

Unfortunately the really question is ‘what if England were actually any good?’

The only way things are going to improve is if we stop ignoring the fact that the FA too often ignores the national team. More needs to be done to improve the youth system to ensure a bright future for the English game. While we’re at it, lets stop paying them obscene money to kick a ball around. It’s the reason they don’t care anymore, because they don’t need to. At the moment, they think that as long as they play well for the club that pays them, they don’t need to worry about anything else.

Oh and one more thing ‘We’ve had a long season and we’re tired, we need a mid season break’. These players are at peak physical fitness. England’s squad played an average of 60 games last year, that’s 90 hours of football over a period of eight months. There are 2916 hours in eight months. So they play football for 3% of their time in that period.

You’re tired? Pull the other one. Just accept the fact you’re not the players you think you are and that you didn’t give this tournament your all. Admit that much and then maybe we can start fresh.

Failing that, we could just make Gazza the manager....it worked for Argentina

Talking to a Trickster

It's not often Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho are likely to be jealous of the talents of their peers, but they haven't met the UK finest - Woody.

From an early age it was obvious that Paul ‘Woody’ Wood was talented with a football at his feet. He always dreamed of playing professional football like his idol Diego Maradona and knew that to get there he was going to have to hone his skills.

As a kid, Woody didn’t always have a football to hand and so spent his time practising his tricks with oranges as he watched videos of Maradona.

The hard work paid off as Woody played for Wimbledon and Watford in his early days but an unfortunate injury ended his playing days prematurely.

Fortunately he had built up a back catalogue of tricks that would later see him succeed as one of the World’s Best freestylers.

“I fell into freestyle to be honest, I played for Wimbledon then Watford and got a bad injury which stopped me from playing. I entered the Nike freestyle competition at Earls Court in 2003 and got to the semi finals out of 32,000 tricksters and realised all the hours I spent practising kick ups for my ball control in the garden could be used for something else!”

From here one job became two, two became three and eventually Woody was on the books of a number of agencies who were looking to get him work. It was only a matter of time before he had his own personal agent and website.

“Before I knew it the bar just kept on rising on to bigger things.”

Woody has got a mouth watering portfolio including being UEFA’s official skill expert, performing in adverts for Nike, appearing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. However his biggest achievement to date was documentary film ‘In the Hands of the Gods’ which was released in around 100 cinemas nationwide including a Leicester Square premier as well as a screening at the Cannes film festival.

“It was an idea I came up with. Basically I wanted to do it to prove to the world what you can achieve with just a talent and a dream. Our talent was football freestyle and our dream was Diego. We were prepared to put our talent to the test and busk our way for food, accommodation and travel to Argentina to show what can be achieved starting with absolutely nothing!”

(Woody - centre - with Hands of the Gods cast)

The documentary followed Woody and fellow freestylers Sami Hall, Danny Robinson, Jeremy Lynch and Mikey Fisher as they journeyed across North and Central America before reaching South America and eventually Argentina in the hope of meeting their hero, Diego Maradona. For them, Maradona epitomised everything they love about football; the creator of their art and their inspiration during hard times in their lives. The feature was described as ‘a voyage of adventure and self-discovery that will take these boys far from their homes, on a trip that will change their lives forever.’

“It was an amazing experience; I loved the raw country of Guatemala and the contrast of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro"

Since then Woody has continued to go from strength to strength but staying at the top doesn’t come easy though and the talented trickster admits he keeps up a regular training schedule.

“Some weeks I train one hour a day, five days a week. Other weeks I’ll train two to three hours a day, three to four days a week. I definitely needed a bit of natural talent to get me started but, like anything in life, hard work is what it took to get to the top of my game! So practice, practice, practice is honestly the key!”

Of the many tricks in his armoury, Woody will always have his favourite and it is one he has created himself: ‘It’s called the Woody! It’s my signature move so I had to name it after me.’

The Woody requires the freestyler to catch the ball between the bum and heel then roll the ball over the head to carry on performing.
“I first used it for a Sky advert for the Copa America many years back and it went down well.”

This was one of Woody’s first TV appearances, where the freestyler – in Argentina colours – takes part in a freestyle battle with opposing South American nations.


“The ad was great fun and probably the start of what I saw as big things to come. We got a lot of exposure from that advert and it all came around from us being casted in house at the Sky head quarters.”

It isn’t the only time Woody has graced Sky television however, also appearing on Sky One football drama Dream Team where he took shots at goalkeeper Jamie Parker and came on as substitute in a Harchester United game. He also appeared on Soccer AM, with his fellow ‘Hands of the Gods’ team to promote the film and show off some skills.

As an Arsenal fan, Woody will always appreciate flair footballers and this was evident when he I asked him to name his favourites to watch.
“I love players with great technical ability and good awareness like Cesc Fabregas, [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo. They are always my favourites to watch!”



After a number of exciting years for Woody he is now more settled. After completing a three year traineeship with Arsenal Football Club, Woody created his own skills school, which he now runs: ‘Woody’s Football Freestyle Academy.’
“It’s great to run. I do it mostly because I provide something that I didn't have the chance to be a part of when I was a kid. I suppose it’s my way of giving a bit back.”

It would be wrong to talk to someone so in tune with the footballing world without getting his opinion on the showpiece that is gracing television screens across the world right now. World Cup 2010. However, the football mad freestyler has not been able to watch as much as he would have wanted.
“The World Cup it probably the busiest time for a freestyle footballer, everyone wants a piece of you as everything is football themed. I'm looking forward to it, but I hope I manage to see a bit of it as I work most games!”
Woody is keeping patriotic but think’s his idol might hold the key to World Cup glory. “I hope England can go all the way but in all honesty I’ve got a funny feeling about Maradona’s Argentina and also Spain.”

Pressure? Give me a break!

There seems to be a bit of a trend surfacing of late. Professional sportsmen are being excused poor performances due to the pressure of the situation. I don’t like it.

I think it’s only right to admit from the start that this article is being fuelled by anger towards someone I had a bet on that didn’t win. This is the journalistic equivalent of having an argument with your significant other whilst drunk or more trivially, going food shopping whilst hungry. Nevertheless I feel it’s a topic that many people will be able to relate to in light of our National Football team’s latest shortcomings.

Let me address the fuel for my fire – Dustin Johnson. For those of you who don’t know, Johnson is a professional golfer who, at the close of play on Saturday, held a three shot lead at 6-under par in the US Open with just one round to go. As it turned out, the eventual champion, Graham McDowell finished the tournament on level par, meaning that Johnson could have carded a final round 76 (his worst round so far was 71) and still won the tournament.

Congratulations though to McDowell, who becomes Britain’s first major winner since Paul Lawrie in 1999, and the first European to claim the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Now, despite being an outsider at the start of the week, some excellent golf put Johnson first in contention and then in the lead after a superb round of golf on Saturday. It is also worth noting that Johnson had won the previous two PGA Tour tournaments at Pebble Beach, where this year’s US Open was held, so he had been in this position before and done the business.

Not this time though.

Johnson started with a solid par which should have settled any nerves he had on the first tee and put him in a good mindset to go and win the tournament. However, he then produced a short game display akin to a one armed gopher as he first duffed a backhanded chip and then fluffed an outrageous attempted flop shot before missing a short putt. He literally imploded in the space of about two minutes. If you hit pause on your Sky + remote at the right time you could actually see the moment his rectum inverted.



Despite this monumental disaster he still held a share of the lead. Breathe, regroup, calm, fairway is what you would expect to happen in the mindset of someone capable of leading the US Open. What we got was: Breathe, regroup, swipe, hit in the bushes about 100 yards left of target. A lost ball, a double bogey and tournament over? Not yet. There were still 15 holes to play and only two shots off the lead, the pressure of leading from the front is now gone, surely its time to settle. Just hit the fairway, and….beach; Ok now it’s over. Johnson went on to shoot 82, the second worst score of the day and finished five shots behind.

Now time for the seamless link. Dustin sounds like Justin, which is the first name of Justin Rose; the Rose is the symbol of England Rugby; Jonny Wilkinson came on against Australia for England at the weekend and scored the winning points; Points are what I am now going to make about English footballers.

Told you, seamless.

England have now suffered two bore draws to open a World Cup in which people believed they would go all the way to the final and maybe even win the thing! However we keep hearing that there is too much pressure on the players making them nervous and so they can’t kick a ball properly anymore.

Yes I know that nerves play a part in all sport, but I don’t buy for a second the fact that nerves have the capabilities to rob professional sportsmen of all talent they had before. Fabio Capello recently said: ‘It is simply the fear that stops the legs, that stops the mind; that stops everything. I'm not criticising them for that. I know the problem, it happens sometimes in important matches, this pressure.’ What a load of cack.

These players play their football at the highest level for their clubs on a weekly basis. Out of the starting eleven against Algeria, four of them have won Premier League titles, six have appeared in Champions league Finals and nine of them have won the FA Cup. In these situations they didn’t buckle under the pressure, in fact on the whole they excelled and relished the opportunity. Due to this I feel there can be no excuse for letting ‘nerves’ take over during the World Cup.

I’m actually pretty pleased that John Terry came out with the retort: ‘That's a little bit insulting, because we are not.’ At least he’s not shipping the blame to us lot for wanting them to win! Making this point is the first good thing he’s done since Vanessa Perroncel, and unfortunately it may have similar devastating consequences as I can’t imagine Fabio appreciating those comments.

It just seems that professionals are too easily forgiven for letting the nerves take over. Dustin Johnson should have been able to shoot a half decent score and win the US Open last night, there’s no you can be excused for such deterioration just because there’s a few people watching and a big shiny trophy’s at stake. The man hit some shots that would have sent me into ‘Snap Club Mode’ in my club’s Monthly Medal competitions.

As for Steven Gerrard and the boys, it does not bode well that the ‘pressure’ has affected them in the last two games, when there is more than likely going to be more of it on their shoulders in a must win game against the group leaders. For once it would be nice to see them revel in it and rise to the occasion like they do for their club.



Pressure is forgetting your significant other’s birthday and trying to stall, go to work, buy a present, card and arrange dinner for that night all in one morning. It’s killing your kid’s pet and trying to find an indentical replacement before the end of school. It’s not trying to win a tournament. The examples used in this article don’t need to win these tournaments for financial gain, they secure in their lifestyle and more money is trivial. What should matter is the enjoyment and pride you get from excelling in your sport. So nerves should not come into it.

Maybe I’m wrong, I haven’t been there, but it just seems silly to me that players who get put in these situations on a regular basis can all of a sudden get overwhelmed by a situation.

As it stands, the accusations during the Silver Swede era in the National team that the players are a bunch of overpaid primadonnas who don’t care about the country as they aren’t paid for it, ring true.

It was announced before the tournament that any winning bonuses the players get would go to charity. Maybe the only way to get them to try and win this thing is if we tell the charities in question to forget it. I’d like to think not.

US Open Preview - Britain's Time?

After ten years away from the hustle and bustle of the major championships, it’s time for the return of a true golfing monster.

Don’t panic, its still 2010, Tiger has only been gone a month or so, he hasn’t shagged you into a coma; I’m not talking about him. It’s time for golf’s finest to return to Pebble Beach for this year’s US Open.

As the World focuses on South Africa and the World Cup, the golfing population carry on business as usual and so I felt it was time to take a break from blogging about the football and dedicate some time to my other passion; golf.

The United States’ oldest golf tournament returns to the Californian shores ten years after a certain 24-year-old superstar tore the course apart, winning the US Open by 15 shots, to kick off a run that would see him claim all four majors in a row. Back then Tiger was a force to be reckoned with and was pretty much unstoppable.



Fast-forward ten years and the great man seems a shell of his former self. Still only 34-years-old, the mischievous Californian has seen his form diminish after revelations of his private wrongdoings turned his life upside down, ruining his marriage and forcing him to take an indefinite break from golf.

Now he’s back and raring to go, but recent performances suggest that a once safe bet is now unlikely to reclaim the title he won in 2008. Back then he was a hero, competing on one leg, holing a superb putt on the last and then seeing off a strong fight from Rocco Mediate in the play-off to claim his 14th major title.

Now he is a broken individual who has lost hoards of fans along with numerous sponsorship deals, not to mention his family. So as much as Tiger will believe he can win, and as much as fans will want to see resurgence to his former greatness, I just can’t see it happening. Much like with his return at the Masters, I think the pressure will get to him and your money is safer elsewhere.

So let’s have a look at some of the contenders this week.

Phil Mickelson

Lefty is currently the World Number 2 and has the chance to usurp his long time nemesis Mr Woods this week as World Number 1 for the first time. The following scenarios will see the housewives’ favourite claim the coveted spot:
- Phil wins he’s the new number 1
- Phil is 2nd alone then he’s number 1 if Tiger is outside the Top 4
- Phil is 3rd alone then he’s number 1 if Tiger is outside the Top 18

Considering the current form of Mickelson and Woods’ lack of it, there is a good chance that this could happen and we could have a new top dog for the first time for over five years.
The big man is desperate to win a US Open to go with his Masters and USPGA titles after narrowly missing out more than once in recent years.


Lee Westwood

The man from Worksop has been in inspired form over the last two years. You would be hard pushed to find someone in better form than Lee at the moment. Two years ago he missed out on the playoff with Woods and Mediate by a shot. Then last year he came agonisingly close at the Open before finishing third at the USPGA. HE followed that this year with a second place finish at the Masters, leading into Sunday, only a phenomenal display from Mickelson prevented him winning his first major.
Add to that the fact that Westwood is coming off a win at the St Jude classic last week and he looks a promising contender at Pebble Beach. The only problem is he has nerves akin to an England goalkeeper when it comes to the crunch.

Could we finally be seeing a British winner of a major for the first time since Paul Lawrie’s surprise Carnoustie victory in 1999? It looks like there could be every chance, with five of the top ten golfers hailing from these shores, outnumbering Americans in the top ten for the first time ever. Not too shabby if I do say so myself, and I will. Look out for Rory Mcilroy whose had a great season so far, Luke Donald whose recaptured the form of old and the fiery Ian Poulter - he won't win but he’ll no doubt be wearing some rather fetching unmissable pantaloons.

It’s now been forty years since a Brit won the US Open. Not since Tony Jacklin’s heroics at Hazeltine has one of us made an impression on the yanks biggest stage.
Monty came close in 2006, when a par at the last would have won him the trophy. Unfortunately he decided he hadn’t got his money’s worth and took an extra chip and putt to feel customer satisfaction.
Miguel Angel Jiminez came agonizingly close back in 2000 at Pebble Beach when he finished second, just a mere 15 strokes behind Tiger. Nailbiting!

If I’m perfectly honest I’m not holding high hopes. This is the time of year that I’m supposed to believe England will win, but know deep down that there’s no chance. I’ve come to accept that its just not going to happen, but I will still, as I do in the world cup, go down the bookies and stick a tenner on the English (I’ll go with Lee Westwood, like I have for the last 3 years – I tell you what, if he didn’t have a twitchy bum he’d have made me a fortune) and once again be disappointed. But hey, I’m English, that’s what life’s about.

If you fancy a flutter this weekend I advise you to check out the PGA website rather than listen to me: http://www.pgatour.com/2010/r/06/15/picks-usopen/index.html

Howler sees England stutter to opening draw

So yet another World Cup campaign kicks off with an English anti climax.

It was always going to happen. We were up against a side who are definitely no mugs but for some reason all us fans expected an easy victory. In fairness, a draw is not the end of the world. The likelihood is that we will go and win the next two games and top the group. However it was the circumstances that made the final result last night all the harder to swallow.

I don’t even know where to start! Actually yes I do. Robert Green. The latest England goalkeeper to suffer a calamity of epic proportions is the man from Chertsey. The West Ham United goalkeeper won the race to start England’s opening game after a week of
guessing games in which all three of England’s men in green were tipped to start.



I have a bias towards Joe Hart due to my allegiance to Birmingham City, but facts are facts, he conceded less goals than the other two, kept more clean sheets and his team finished highest in the league by some stretch. I don’t accept the argument that he’s too young, he’s only a year younger than Rooney and he’s had a superb season. Even if you decide against Hart, the next choice is James, NOT Green, as he proved in spectacularly damaging fashion last night.

For those of you who inexplicably missed the game last night (shame on you), the three lions started brightly, taking the lead inside five minutes when a neat little through ball by Emile Heskey was tucked away by our scouse skipper Steven Gerrard. After that it seemed to go a bit flat with few chances being created, but England never looked in danger of conceding.



That was until Rob Green decided the opening game of the World Cup was the perfect time to whip out the Scott Carson impression he’s been working on in his hotel room. Clint Dempsey had a shot from 30 yards. To describe it as speculative would be giving him too much credit. It looked as if Green would calmly collect the shot and England could regroup. However he decided to make it harder for himself by using just the thumb of his right hand to save the shot. Inevitably the ball squirmed over his gloves and we could only watch as the hapless goalkeeper tried in vain to scoop the ball back and then press his face into the turf.

It’s a good job he didn’t look up at that point as he would have seen ten Englishmen with their heads in their hands, probably thinking: “even Emilie would have had that one”. I think what I enjoyed most was the slow motion replay of David Beckham’s reaction. It looked like when The Rock used to stare out his opponents in the WWF with a stonking People’s Eyebrow. I half expected Becks to run on and deliver the people’s elbow to our red faced goalie.



So we went into half-time dejected, with the score at 1-1. No problem we thought, just a blip, we’ll still win.

Well things got worse as Ledley King had to be substituted with an injury, replaced by Jamie Carragher who looked off the pace but did OK. King joined James Milner who somewhat embarrassingly was substituted after just half an hour after an ineffectual start, which gained him a yellow card. To be honest, Shaun Wright-Phillips played far better when he came on.

The second half seemed to drift by without much happening. None of our stars made much of an impact, with Rooney not really appearing until the last ten minutes. Frank Lampard was quiet, I imagine he had a pie on the go. John Terry looked a little bit shaky, although my sources tell me he was on edge after getting wind that one of the other players found out what he got up to on his recent late night at the office finishing a project with their missus.

Rob Green then clawed back some of the respect he’d lost with the error, by tipping Jozy Alitdore’s shot onto the post. Although I do still think he should have been able to make a more solid save on that and the post saved him from being burnt at the stake. I had to put my Robert Green effigy on the back burner for a moment.

Ultimately England whimpered in with a draw and after Slovenia’s win over Algeria, they lie second in the group. Watching the game this morning I have no worries about us taking six points from our remaining fixtures and then in the knock outs it’s a different ball game. Unfortunately still not one we’re very good at. Maybe if we changed it to Petanque? Nah, France would have our number on that one.

So young Robert will have to face facts that he’s not cut out for this level and Fabio will now have to make a big decision on who to start in the next game. Green seems like a strong fellow, but it’s never going to be easy to come back from a moment like that.



In all I think we played well enough to just about deserve a win, and probably would have had we not been undone by the rasping left foot of Clint Dempsey, but it did nothing to quell the worries that England fans have that our national heroes will let us down once again.

Throughout the World Cup I will be giving my bets of the day via my twitter page, so if you fancy a flutter then check it out! I’ll be putting a tenner on all the bets I suggest and so far it’s proving lucrative!

Captain's Curse

And so the Captain’s curse has struck again. It’s beginning to seem like wearing that armband is a poison chalice in a World Cup year.

The biggest example from my three world cups as an England fan was memorably the David Beckham saga of 2002, when we had every witch doctor’s remedy being suggested, and resident crackpot Uri Gellar taking time out from manipulating the appearance of cutlery to send positive messages to Mr Beckham. As we all know, he did indeed make the tournament, setting up Sol Campbell’s header in the opening fixture against Sweden before crushing Argentinian dreams and banishing all memory of his misdemeanours in Saint Etienne at the previous World Cup. Despite these heroics, Goldenballs was a shell of his former self and the image of Becks jumping out of a soft tackle in the build up to Rivaldo’s equaliser for Brazil in the quarter-final that year still leaves a sour taste. Then you remember in Germany in 2006, Beckham was injured to the point of tears in the crucial game with Portugal. Having already lost Rooney to a red card and Michael Owen to injury earlier in the tournament it certainly didn’t exactly help our cause.

That was not the only time England has been hampered by the curse. Remember Bryan Robson and Kevin Keegan? Well I don’t as I wasn’t here, but I’ve definitely read about it somewhere and it was more of the same. Bryan Robson had a bit of a nightmare, being ruled out halfway through the campaign in 1986, missing the infamous Hand of God game, in a year which he was widely regarded as England’s best player. Then four years later at Italia 90, Captain Marvel could only play a limited role as England bowed out in that emotional semi-final with Germany.
Similarly Keegan was to miss out due to injury in 1982. Having not played in 1974 or 1978 due to England’s failure to qualify, Super Kev finally had the chance to lead his country out in the World Cup in 1982 in Spain. Lo and behold, just 21 minutes into the opening game, Keegan was struck down, ending his World Cup experience. He made a miraculous recovery in the final group game with Spain when he came on as a late substitute, just in time to miss a bread and butter header that would have seen England through.



Now it’s another World Cup year and so time for the curse to strike up once again. It seems shedding the armband wasn’t enough to help Becks as he will miss out through an achilles injury (maybe he still wears the armband round the house due to withdrawal? If so, it’s his own fault.) We also had John Terry go on a sexual rampage - ok one woman, that we know of - which resulted in him being stripped of the captaincy just months before he was set to lead his country out on the biggest stage for the first and probably last time. But, rightly or wrongly Capello saw fit to remove the red band from JT's wandering arms.

And now Rio Ferdinand. In only took one training session but it was enough time for the calamitous Emile Heskey to rule our captain out of the World Cup. Now, I stick up for big Emile every time people put him down and claim he doesn’t deserve his place. I am well aware of the important role he plays in making space for Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard to score our goals. However, I need to make a personal plea to the man. Emile, please, I want to defend you but you keep making it harder for me. He was our captain for god’s sake.

Here’s the controversial part. Could this injury actually be a bit of a blessing in disguise? We all know Rio is a fantastic footballer and has proved at Manchester United that he is a great leader and one of, if not the best defenders of his generation. However, he’s barely played this term and when he has it’s been mediocre at best. There’s also the harsh assessment that if we are going to lose a star in any position then centre back is probably the preferred choice. If we lost Gerrard or Lampard in midfield we would lose a big part of our team and if we lost Rooney… well you might as well tell the boys to hop back on the plane and come home. However in defence Rio has very capable deputies.


Ledley King is held in very high regard and if it weren’t for injury problems I am of the belief he’d be the main man wearing the armband and we’d all be wondering whether it would be Terry or Ferdinand playing alongside him. Past Ledley we’ve got Jamie Carragher who has been at the top forever and after him we have Upson (although I don’t rate him) and then Dawson, who has been the best centre back in England this year. So all is not lost and I think in a months time we could all be revelling in how Ledley King has lead us to the World Cup final.

Another potential revelation in the aftermath of Riogate (Can someone please tell me where all this –gate business came from?) is the selection of Steven Gerrard as captain. The marauding scouser has failed to make an impact in major tournaments so far considering how he single handedly wins major fixtures for Liverpool on a regular basis. I think there’s a good chance that Gerrard will now get that lift to produce the same form for the national side and his appointment could prove the making of the man.



England go into their final warm up match before the tournament starts, where they will play South African Premier League side Platinum Stars. I fancy Hart to start and England to win 3-0. They will be hoping for no more fresh injuries, but the next few weeks could show that the biggest ‘blow’ to the squad so far, could become the making of heros.