Tag Archives: England

How pre-season jollies got turned into serious money-makers

“Judy Garland’s Dorothy followed the yellow brick road to Kansas; Manchester United believe their path to play the city’s Wizards tomorrow is paved with gold. Whether it is the ideal preparation for a 10-month English season remains to be seen. Last weekend United played in Toronto. Next weekend they play in Guadalajara. Besides Canada, Mexico and the American Midwest they will have also fitted in matches in Philadelphia and Houston before returning to England, via a game in Ireland, for the Community Shield.” (Independent)

Diagnosis: Merthyr

“One of the perceived anomalies in European club football is the presence of the six Welsh clubs in the English league system. What a lot of people don’t realise, however, is that historically the Football League was the pinnacle of a system that encompassed both England and Wales, and that prior to the launch of the Football Conference in 1979, Welsh football clubs mainly competed in regional leagues that were the pinnacle of non-league football in England and Wales.” (twohundredpercent)

The National Football Centre: Is It Actually Worthwhile For English Youth Development?

“‘This can kick-start English football and it would, over time, move us forward with a huge leap. That would not, obviously, happen immediately, but given two or three years it would start making a clear difference.’ So says Howard Wilkinson, architect of the original plan for The Football Association to build a National Football Centre at Burton-on-Trent.” (Pitch Invasion)

Demons From World Cup Follow Capello

“The World Cup has gone, but the embarrassment lingers for England and its Italian coach, Fabio Capello. The coach and his legal advisers are seeking to distance him from an online rating of players’ performances that bears his name. The Web site, the Capello Index, published last week, does not list one English player among the top 70 at the World Cup after the country was beaten 4-1 by Germany in the first knockout stage.” (NYT)

Brazilian league lacks bite

“Spain or Barcelona? No contest. Week in, week out, Barcelona combine the midfield interplay of Xavi and Iniesta with the cutting edge of Lionel Messi, Daniel Alves and co. The comparison serves to confirm the impression that these days club football is of a much higher standard than international – as long as we restrict the debate to the major European leagues. The big clubs in Spain, England, Italy and Germany are in front of the national teams because of the time their players spend together and because they count on the best talent from all over the planet. When the World Cup stops and domestic football returns, the level of play goes up.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

Agincourt and England 2010

“Paul Carpenter (Carpsio) takes the ‘passion and commitment’ line of England criticism in an interesting direction with an informed comparison of Agincourt to that 4-1 defeat to Germany…” (More Than Mind Games)

Thomas Hobbes & English Mechanism

Thomas Hobbes
“WCC has noted previously that the England team appears to operate somewhat mechanistically. Even over a successful qualification campaign it seemed that Fabio Capello’s efforts had yielded mechanical rather than organic solidarity. The team was playing well together, but like an ordered collection of components rather than a smooth functioning whole. This reflects English society to a degree: this nation is closely defined by the temporal framework of a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday culture. Collectivist solutions to social problems such as the Welfare State, which were predominantly put into place in the immediate post-war era, also have something of an overarching mechanistic quality.” (World Cup College)

FA Cup Replays and the Winter Break

“Earlier this week, Owen Gibson of the Guardian reported that the FA were considering making a change to the FA Cup (under a banner of revitalisation for the competition) in order to help create a mid-season break, in order to the England squad. The change is one that would seismic across English football, and that change would be scrapping FA Cup replays. Even in the article itself, the suggestion is that the scrapping of FA Cup replays would only free up one midweek date, and that midweek date would be filled by a set of fixtures allowing for a two week break, or in other words, one Saturday off. However, far from revitalising the competition, it may be the beginning of the end for the world’s oldest football competition.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup 2010: Henry Winter diary part 1

“June 3: Pride before a fall. England swan into town and the locals start dancing. They’ll soon be laughing, but for now respect fills warm air of the savannah at the Bafokeng Sports Campus outside Rustenburg. Even the king of the Bafokeng tribe turns up to greet Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand. The noble warrior does well to get close. England are surrounded by heavy security as they disgorge from a battle-bus emblazoned with the slogan ‘Playing With Pride And Glory’’. Someone obviously has a sense of humour. A nearby building would be better suited to hosting England — the Phokeng Trauma Centre.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter, Part 1), (Telegraph – Henry Winter, Part 2), (Telegraph – Henry Winter, Part 3)

Not For Glory Alone

“Two billion souls: One must begin with that. That’s how many people, or nearly so, sat or stood in view of television screens to watch twenty-two men kick a white ball around a green field on a warm July night in Berlin four years ago. The twenty-two men comprised the men’s national soccer teams of Italy and France. The occasion was the final game of the 2006 World Cup. The cagey match, as the world now knows, turned on an extraordinary event near its end when France’s captain and star, Zinedine Zidane, strode toward the Italian defender Marco Materazzi and, for reasons unknown, drove his bald pate into the taller man’s chest. The motion mimicked one he’d used a few minutes earlier to head a flighted ball inches over the Italians’ goal, coming ago nizingly close to winning the day for France. Now Zidane was expelled, his team was rattled, and a player in blue whose name few outside Umbria and Trieste recall darted inside a player in white and curled the ball inside the French goal with his left foot, cueing images, on countless flickering screens around the planet, of his countrymen celebrating Italy’s triumph in the floodlit waters of the Trevi fountain in Rome.” (Laphams Quarterly)

World Cup scouting: The 32 – Conclusions

Antonio Di Natale
“Starting with Nicolás Lodeiro back in December last year, Football Further selected 32 players to watch out for at the 2010 World Cup and then tracked their progress through the tournament via weekly scouting reports. Below is a full compilation of those reports, along with conclusions (and marks out of 10) on how each player performed.” (Football Further)

‘Octodamus’ and other surprises – Eduardo Galeano

Mensaje de Eduardo Galeano para América Latina Cartagena de Indias, Julio de 1997
“Pacho Marturana, a man with vast experience in these battles, says that football is a magical realm where anything can happen. And this World Cup has confirmed his words: it was an unusual World Cup. The 10 stadiums where the Cup was played were unusual, beautiful, immense, and cost a fortune. Who knows how South Africa will be able to keep these cement behemoths operating amid pulverising poverty? The Adidas Jabulani ball was unusual, slippery and half mad, fled hands and disobeyed feet. It was introduced despite players not liking it at all. But from their castle in Zurich, the tsars of football impose, they don’t propose. …” (Dispatch)

World Cup 2010: A tactical review

Marcello Bielsa
“At the dawn of the tournament Football Further posed ten tactical questions that the World Cup would answer. Three days after Spain’s tense extra-time victory over the Netherlands in the final, the answers to those questions reflect a tournament in which defensive rigour was overwhelmingly de riguer and tactical innovation conspicious by its rarity.” (Football Further)

Finale

“Two days after the World Cup final, the whole event seems slightly surreal. I’m returning from South Africa today, having survived on my last day here a gauntlet of baboons and a march up a gorgeous mountain, after arriving on the 26th of June just in time to see Ghana beat the U.S. I’ve had the privilege of watching seven games, including the Cape Town semi-final and the final in Johannesburg. I’ve come to know and love the vuvuzela — and, yes, I’m bringing one home to blow at Duke soccer matches this fall. It was rapture on many levels, and now it’s passed.” (Soccer Politics)

The Question: What next for 4-4-2?

“This was a bad World Cup for a lot of old favourites – anybody who appeared on the Nike ad, Marcello Lippi, preconceptions about Africa – but none of them had quite such a miserable tournament as 4-4-2. When even its old friend Michael Owen starts doubting it, the future for the formation that has ruled British football for 40 years looks bleak. Johan Cruyff got stuck in as well last week – not particularly surprisingly given his lifelong ideological insistence on 4-3-3 – pointing out that ‘the numbers don’t match up’ and explaining that a system of three straight bands doesn’t lend itself to the creation of passing triangles.” (Guardian)

The Question: What have been the tactical lessons of World Cup 2010?

“This has been the tournament of 4-2-3-1. The move has been apparent in club football for some time; in fact, it may be that 4-2-3-1 is beginning to be supplanted by variants of 4-3-3 at club level, but international football these days lags behind the club game, and this tournament has confirmed the trend that began to emerge at Euro 2008. Even Michael Owen seems to have noticed, which is surely the tipping point.” (Guardian)

Europe is still football’s dominant force

“Wasn’t it just a few glasses of Chardonnay ago that European soccer was melting faster than a wedge of warm Brie? France, Italy and England — three of the continent’s soccer superpowers — had gone home in various levels of disgrace. To make matters worse, all five of South America’s entrants had moved on to the knockout round, with all but Chile winning its group.” (ESPN)

Following England in South Africa

“The 2010 World Cup was my first time following England abroad and a hugely enjoyable experience it was, despite the results. Wandering around Johannesburg airport on Monday night (my flight had been delayed because of the plane taking the England team home, to add insult to injury), I came across a snack bar called Capellos, which promised ‘Food. Passion. People’. I couldn’t help but snort.” (WSC)

World Cup Quarters – “& Then There Were 8″

“The typical suspects have overcome group stage difficulties to rise to the top. However, no smoking gun has appeared to point out the single culprit most likely to win the tournament. Using a really big magnifying glass, a trench coat, a smart talking sidekick, and intuition, we embarked on an investigation of the remaining teams in this World Cup quarterfinals, searching for clues in a sea of uncertainty. Our conclusion as to who will win the World Cup?” (futfanatico)

The Questions: 6 Questions on England v Germany

Fabio Capello
“After England’s hugely disappointing 4-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup 2010 round of 16, Just-Football.com asked some of it’s contributors (and a special guest) to analyse the flaws and the future for the England national team in the rebirth of a new feature, The Questions. Is it now time for serious structural change in English football?” (Just Football)

Is it time for England to ditch the 4-4-2 and play like the rest of the world?
“Terry Venables tells a story about Paul Gascoigne at Tottenham. Gazza, with his limited attention span, was forever bemoaning the time spent working on tactics. Then he went to Italy to play for Lazio. When Venables saw him next, Gascoigne had changed his tune, even admitting that, after confronting the deep and well-organised defences of Serie A, he realised how important tactics were.” (Independent)

England’s Loss to Germany
“England’s performance was in a different league of awfulness from the regular awfulness that had been seen in earlier games. Before, the problem had been one of not seeming to care; the players behaving as though they deserved to win by virtue of the size of their wages. This time they definitely cared, they were fired up, ready to go and then when they got there, they were just awful.” (The Paris Review)

An open letter to Sir Dave Richards, re: the England job
“Dear Dave, In the next twelve days, I’m told, you and the Football Association board will decide whether or not to relieve Fabio Capello of his duties as England manager. Matt Dickinson, who normally gets these things right, said on The Times podcast that you guys will most likely base part of your decision on what the media say. Given that I am a small part of the media, I’m offering up my two pence, not just on Capello, but on the England team’s future.” (The Game Blog)

World Cup 2010: Ten things Fabio Capello got wrong
“The England manager exposed his fallibility with a series of bad calls during the World Cup campaign” (Guardian)

There is only one thing tired about England… the excuses

“As hard to believe as it may be, England are actually worse off now than when Steve McClaren was sacked almost three years ago. Back then, you see, there was a plan. The Football Association were going to throw money at the problem like never before; they were going to write a cheque that would make Sven Goran Eriksson’s second contract seem like luncheon vouchers.” (Daily Mail)

England’s Loss to Germany

“England’s performance was in a different league of awfulness from the regular awfulness that had been seen in earlier games. Before, the problem had been one of not seeming to care; the players behaving as though they deserved to win by virtue of their size of their wages. This time they definitely cared, they were fired up, ready to go and then when they got there, they were just awful.” (The Paris Review)

England’s pathetic exit

“So, that’s the excuse sorted, then. For England, the only good news was that Jorge Larionda and Mauricio Espinosa diverted attention elsewhere, offering Fabio Capello’s team something to hide behind. Only they didn’t. Not really. England are a hippopotamus quivering behind a lamppost, hoping no one can see them. But we can see them. We did see them. And so did everyone else. Only too well.” (CBC)

Anatomizing England

“Jonathan Wilson says that his fine new book The Anatomy of England: A History in Ten Matches has no thesis, but I believe a thesis is lodged within, though perhaps it can’t be expressed in a single sentence. The book’s implicit argument goes something like this…” (Run of Play)

More thoughts on more losses (Mexico, England and the unfairness of it all)

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“It was all too much today – one great goal (Lampard) ignored and one totally, unambiguously offside goal allowed (Tevez). We watched some teams exploit their good fortune, and others collapse in the face of their bad luck. It’s become a World Cup scripted by Emile Zola. I am thinking of his utterly depressing novel L’Assommoir (the word means a dive-bar one goes to only to get hammered). At a key juncture in the story, the lovable drunk Copeau is doing his best to get his life together, but takes a bad fall at work and breaks his leg.” (From A Left Wing)

Germany 4-1 England: Brilliant German performance demolishes lifeless England

The House Where I Grew Up, Johannesburg
“A monumental thrashing for England, at the hands of a German side who had pace, movement, tactical awareness and ruthlessness in front of goal. At times they appeared to be playing football from a different world. England were simultaneously boxey and positionally woeful – quite a difficult combination to achieve. Germany, on the other hand, played superbly. This performance from a young side in a high-pressure situation demonstrated remarkable quality in both technically and mentally. The analysis of the goals will go on for days, the obituaries of English football will go on for weeks, but Germany’s performance should not be underestimated.” (Zonal Marking)

Germany 4-1 England

“England’s World Cup ended in a mixture of humiliation and controversy as they were thrashed by Germany in Bloemfontein. Germany’s deserved win and convincing victory margin will be overshadowed forever in the minds of Fabio Capello and his squad by a moment they believe robbed them of the hope of reaching the last eight. Matthew Upson had thrown England a lifeline just before half-time after a vastly superior Germany had taken a stranglehold on the game with goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.” (BBC)

World Cup 2010: Germany 4-1 England
“There have been times over the previous four or five days or so that this afternoon’s match between Germany and England has threatened to collapse under the weight of its own hubris. England, seemingly unable to wait for this afternoon to come around, has become a nation of tea leaf readers, swirling a cup which contains the history of the matches between the two nations in a desperate attempt to try and pre-determine what is going to happen. The coverage in the press has taken a turn for the weird. A Steven Gerrard press conference was the lead story for much of the press this morning, with the England captain being described in various organs as having “roared” at it, which will have come as news to anyone that has seen Gerrard being interviewed in the press before. This afternoon, however, any talk of ‘roaring’ couldn’t be any more misplaced.” (twohundredpercent)

Germany 4-1 England – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 27 June 2010
“One of the rivalries in international competition, England v Germany, was renewed with the teams meeting in the round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Germany won Group D while England was second in Group C. It was a match that was about even as far as the oddsmakers.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup second round preview (part one)

Diego Forlan
“The eight World Cup second round matches are spread over the course of four days. Here’s previews for the first half…” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup scouting: The 32 – Week Two

Rene Krhin (Slovenia)
“The following 32 names represent Football Further‘s players to watch at the 2010 World Cup. We’ll be following their performances closely over the course of the tournament, with weekly scouting reports rounding up their progress.” (Football Further), (Football Further – Week One)

The United States Of America And The 2010 World Cup

“It was a small point that was rather overlooked in the hysteria that followed England’s 1-0 win against Slovenia in their final group match on Wednesday afternoon but, in the cold light of day and with the complete schedule for the second round of the competition now available for all to see, finishing second in their group has come at a heavy cost for England. Should they somehow scramble through against Germany tomorrow, they are likely to face Argentina in the quarter-finals, and should they manage to win that as well (and we’re stretching the bounds of credibility here), Spain could their be their semi-final opposition.” (twohundredpercent)

Why England’s fans loathe their celebrity team

“At least I have an excuse for not supporting England. As a British citizen of mongrel origins who moved to the Netherlands aged six, I support Holland. So I view the relationship between the English and their football team with distance, and it always surprises me how badly the two parties get on. Going into tomorrow’s crunch game against Germany, the relationship consists of its typical blend of love and dislike.” (FT – Simon Kuper)

Trying To Make Some Sense Of Germany vs England

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Being English during the World Cup finals really does feel like being “stuck in the middle with you”, to labour a pun. On the one hand, there are the newspapers (and not exclusively the tabloid ones), the television commentators, and those that belch in your face and shout, “INGERLAND” at you as if this will somehow help something, somewhere. On the other, there is the rest of the world, which often seems to go out of its way to remember just how much it hates the British, the English, people that wear plastic hats with St Georges crosses painted upon them or whatever. There seems to be no middle ground with England, no way of approximating anything like rationality.” (twohundredpercent)

England 1-0 Slovenia: England more balanced and better in possession

“A much improved performance from England that sees them narrowly progress into the knockout stages of the competition. Slovenia looked to be through at full-time, but a late goal from Landon Donovan against Algeria sends them out. England made three changes from their 0-0 defeat with Algeria. Matthew Upson replaced the suspended Jamie Carragher, with John Terry shifting across to play as the right-sided centre-back. James Milner came in for Aaron Lennon, and Jermain Defoe was ahead of Emile Heskey.” (Zonal Marking)

Slovenia 0 England 1: match report
“It’s the Germans again. It’s history and hysteria again, hopes and fears rolled into one heaving, epic confrontation again. At 3pm on Sunday, the nation will stop, tune in and watch nervously the pictures of the drama unfolding in Bloemfoentein. The streets will be empty, the front rooms full because it’s England versus Germany, the fixture that fixates.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

James Lawton: Dare we believe the hype again? A little fighting spirit can go a long way
“England are not much nearer to winning the World Cup, not with rampant Argentina as potential quarter-final opponents, and finishing second in the Group of Extremely Unlikely Death will never rate as one of the great battle ribbons. It’s also true that the old nemesis Germany lurks in Bloomfontein on Sunday. No, the path to World Cup glory has not exactly opened up. Germany, Argentina, Spain, and then Brazil, maybe, are a series of hurdles that stretch out to a Himalayan degree.” (Independent)

Altitude may be dragging Wayne Rooney down
“No footballer has ever seemed less enigmatic than the Wayne Rooney who erupted on to the scene as a pugnacious teenager, still 16 when his spectacular last-minute goal at Goodison Park ended Arsenal’s 30-match unbeaten run in the league. At 17 he was given his first start in a senior international match, and those who were at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light to see him inspire the defeat of Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifying match will never forget the impact of a player to whom fear and self-doubt were strangers.” (Guardian)

Slovenia 0-1 England – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 23 June 2010

“It was a must win for England as they faced Slovenia in their last group stage match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They have struggled in their first two matches while Slovenia have impressed with a win and a draw. Slovenia would advance with a draw, win, or a USA loss in the other match.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup 2010: Slovenia 0-1 England
“I think it’s fair to say that the introduction’s already on site, so I’ll just go straight into the game. England line up as a 4-4-2, with Gerrard on the left and Milner on the right, and Defoe partnering Rooney up front. As with last night’s Nigeria-South Korea report, I’ll include how the group stands, and any changes. 1. Slovenia 2. USA 3. England 4. Algeria” (twohundredpercent)

Slovenia 0-1 England
“England finally made their presence felt at the World Cup by securing the win they needed over Slovenia in Port Elizabeth to reach the last 16. Jermain Defoe’s close-range strike midway through the first half was enough to give Fabio Capello’s side the three points they required to avoid an early departure from South Africa and finish second behind the United States in Group C. And after the misery of Friday’s draw against Algeria in Cape Town and the controversy surrounding former captain John Terry’s comments about the mood in the camp, Capello will have been delighted to see England produce a hugely improved performance under pressure.” (BBC)

From Lalas to Landon: What Is The American Style Of Play?

“The idea of a distinctive national style of play is not entirely foolish, but the stereotype — being a stereotype — is not exactly a straightforward representation of reality. There are many examples of this, but I’ll give you a timely one from Gabrielle Marcotti today on the English belief about the robotic German style of play, one ever undermined by how numerous German players actually play.” (Pitch Invasion)

U.S. has destiny in its own hands

Landon Donovan
“Another World Cup, another scenario in which the U.S. has its destiny in its own hands. The question is: Will the Americans seize the moment and advance to the knockout stage, or will they suffer an early exit for the second tournament running? The circumstances are simple: Beat Algeria and the U.S. is in the second round. Even a tie, combined with the right result from the England-Slovenia match, could allow the Americans to progress.” (ESPN)

Questions for Judgment Day
“My wife had a kid on Sunday. Day 10 of the World Cup. She thoughtfully waited until Brazil had swatted aside the Ivory Coast before looking over to me, bedraggled on the couch, and declaring “Ke nako” (it’s time, the official World Cup slogan). The birth of our child brought joy into a world that had been distinctly mirthless since Friday’s England-Algeria debacle, a 90-minute spectacle so unfathomably dire that I found myself accidentally cheering for the Desert Foxes at times and was overwhelmed with nostalgia for a return to the good old days of English footy, when Sven-Goran Eriksson was commanding at the helm, the WAGs added depth and seriousness to the news reporting from Germany, and a plethora of insightful autobiographies were released by the team’s leaders the moment they came home.” (ESPN)

Why the U.S. will win
“The task at foot against Algeria tomorrow is simple: win and the Americans are in. Win big, and they’re even likely to finish first in their group. (Plus, given their last match, it can’t hurt to load up on some spare goals in case a referee starts hallucinating in the penalty area.) And while I’m not dumping Gatorade on my Landon Donovan action figure just yet, here are five reasons why I’m keeping some on ice.” (ESPN)

Live From South Africa: How the English Hate Themselves
“Watching the dispirited, sad, frankly pathetic display the English team put on against Algeria, I couldn’t help but wonder what we can learn about this nation that once ruled the world. Over and over again they looked like over-privileged, over-priced, over-pampered aristocrats, with all the skill in the world, and absolutely no heart. It was like they never met each other. How do we explain how a team with some of the greatest players in the world, from a country that actually invented the game, could be so horrible?” (Huffington Post)

World Cup 2010: Stakes are high but we are not afraid, say Slovenians
“Fabio Capello sends his side out at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium tomorrow afternoon with his opposite number warning that, whereas Slovenia pinch themselves at being on the verge of the knockout phase, England’s weighty reputation demands they progress to the second round.” (Guardian)

World Cup 2010: Rooney hampered by fatigue and pressure, says Ferguson
“Sir Alex Ferguson has been so concerned about Wayne Rooney’s state of mind in the World Cup he has broken off from a holiday in France to ring the out-of-form striker and urge him not to succumb to what the Manchester United manager described as the ‘debilitating’ atmosphere in the England camp.” (Guardian)

The Anatomy of England

“Jonathan Wilson is a very smart man and a very knowledgeable football writer. He has already written two glorious football books (Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football and Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics) which will put him very high on the all-time greats list. His knowledge of tactics is prodigious and he is by some distance the leading.” (Pitch Invasion)

Does England Just Need a Good Shag?

“Things are not looking good for England. Two draws against opponents many in the global football community had quickly written off. The passes aren’t coming through, the runs are being cut off, the set pieces are blasting over the cross-bar. Exasperation was clear and bright red on the faces of players during Friday’s match against unexpectedly impressive Algeria. They were snippy with each other, with the officials and with their coach. Their game could simply be described as frustrating. While I don’t want to discount Algeria’s quality of play, I think England’s poor performance in the match and the World Cup as a whole can be blamed on Coach Fabio Capello’s overzealous coaching tactics. Not on the field, but in the bedroom.” (TNR)

Henry Winter Interview: World Cup, Premier League and Custard Creams

“EPL Talk’s Laurence McKenna had an opportunity recently to sit down with Henry Winter, one of the most accomplished English football authors and writers in the United Kingdom. Just minutes before the England versus Mexico friendly at Wembley, McKenna had a chat with Henry Winter, outside the hallowed Wembley Stadium, about several fascinating topics revolving around the World Cup, England national team and the Premier League including…” (EPL Talk)

Winning for “El Mariscal”

“There are several reason why I enjoyed Paraguay’s victory over Slovakia. First, there’s the obvious. As almost every Paraguayan team in history, this group understands football first as a physical game. It is no coincidence that Paraguay is one of the few teams in the world—and certainly in this continent—so clearly identified with the ancestral values of its indigenous people, the Guaranies. This is not ‘el equipo paraguayo’; this is el ‘equipo guarani”. The indomitable culture of the Guarani is as much a part of Paraguayan football culture as Maori tradition for New Zealand. This Paraguayan team lives up to its billing. The Italians had a terrible time with Paraguay’s midfield.” (TNR)

Facing Algeria

“Since last December’s World Cup draw, the Algerian team has been, to my mind, underestimated. They’ve certainly had their ups and downs, and the coach has taken risks by incorporating some new players who weren’t present in qualifying. And the goalie who played so well against England, Raïs M’Bohli, did so during his first full international game for the team. But what we saw against England suggests that, in fact, this team will present a very strong challenge next week against the United States.” (Soccer Politics)

England 0-0 Algeria: shocking display from Capello’s players

“A terrible performance from England in a game completely devoid of any attacking inspiration. Algeria defended excellently in their unusual 3-4-2-1 shape and got the result they were playing for, but England made it easy for them. England made three changes from their first game against the United States. David James replaced Robert Green after his mistake, Jamie Carragher replaced Ledley King after his injury, and Gareth Barry replaced James Milner after his nightmare on the left.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: England 0-0 Algeria
“It would appear that Wayne Rooney is of the opinion that the England football team (and, especially upon this evening, his performance in particular) is worthy of the undying support of the English people and, in particular, of those that have given up valuable holiday time and a fistful of cash that they may or may not be able to afford to travel to South Africa to watch their national team. That any of these people made actual, material sacrifices to be in Cape Town this evening has, presumably, never occurred to him. There are plenty of criticisms that can be levelled at England supporters, but to assert that they are not “football supporters” only serves to emphasise the unreality of the world in which the likes of Wayne Rooney live.” (twohundredpercent)

Disciplined Algeria battles hard to hold England to goalless draw

“England is looking nothing like the soccer power it’s supposed to be. Underdog Algeria held the Three Lions to a second disappointing World Cup draw, a 0-0 tie that left the Group C wide open and is sure to have English fans furious after their team arrived in South Africa as a favorite.” (ESPN)

England 0 Algeria 0: match report
“England continue to contest their own game at the World Cup – the Fear Factor. Alarmingly lacking in belief and energy, Fabio Capello’s side continue to splutter whether at altitude or now at sea level. Heaven knows what Franz Beckenbauer will make of this. England fans did: they howled in derision. After a second successive point, it’s back to the drawing board for Capello, who desperately needs to shake Frank Lampard into life and devise a system that brings more out of the dispirited Wayne Rooney before the final Group C match with leader Slovenia.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

World Cup 2010: Wayne Rooney’s woes reflect the despair of all England
“An anomaly Wayne Rooney was eager to correct was that he had picked up more red cards at World Cups than he had scored goals. Sendings-off led successful strikes 1-0 as the Premier League’s best player arrived in South Africa hoping to justify the extravagant praised piled on him by some of the world’s best judges.” (Guadian)

England 0-0 Algeria
“England’s World Cup hopes hang in the balance as they were held to a disappointing draw by Algeria after a wretched display in Cape Town. Fabio Capello’s side now need to beat Slovenia on Wednesday to ensure qualification to the knockout stages. England felt the full force of the fury of the thousands of fans who flooded Cape Town in the vain hope of seeing a performance that improved on their first draw against the United States in Rustenburg.” (BBC)

England 0-0 Algeria – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 18 June 2010
“England looked to respond from a disappointing 1-1 draw against the United States as they faced Algeria in their second group stage match. A loss for Algeria would mean they would have no chance to get out of the group stage while England can’t clinch or be eliminated with any result from the match.” (The 90th Minute)

The Toughness Game: An American Style of Soccer

“The US game against England–a 1-1 tie, as everyone knows–was real entertainment and also, for me, a moment of revelation. After an early goal, when it seemed like it would all be out of reach very soon, star-studded England seemed troubled by the innocent, sincere play of the Americans, who were able to pull even later in the first half and keep it at that for the rest of the game.” (Soccer Politics)

XI. World Cup Factoids and a Few Observations

“Today we complete the first set of 2010 World Cup group play games. I’ve watched more than 90% of all the minutes – and yet managed to miss five goals live (Holland, Argentina, Slovakia, Brazil’s second and North Korea’s). It’s been an educational experience. I’ve learned many interesting factoids (many acquired by virtue of this being the first Twitter World Cup) and made a few observations as well.” (Pitch Invasion)

Capello’s birds coming home to roost?

“Oh, dear! Are Fabio’s birds coming home to roost? As one who has known and largely admired him both as player and coach these many years, I’ve never really wanted to join in the somewhat sycophantic chorus which has responded to him since he took the England post.” (World Soccer – Brian Glanville)

U.S. vs. England Recreated With Legos (VIDEO)

“In case you missed the U.S.’s “victory” over England over the weekend, you’re in luck. The website Lego Fussball has gone through the trouble of recreating the key plays with Legos. Unlike the actual game, we all win in this one. (via Guardian).” (Huffington Post)

Barney Ronay Interview, The World Cup: EPL Talk Vodcast

“Laurence McKenna, co-host of the EPL Talk and World Cup Buzz Podcasts, recently had a golden opportunity to sit down with one of the most remarkable English football writers and authors, Barney Ronay of The Guardian and When Saturday Comes.” (EPL Talk)

A Short History of World Cup Goalkeeping Blunders

“Robert Green’s ‘hand of clod’ goal against the United States, painful as it was to watch (here it is again!) … … was not the first howler committed by the England keeper.” (NYT)

The Difficulty of Being a Goalie

“Two goalies emerged scarred out of the drama of yesterday’s USA-England game. One injured but with pride intact, another perhaps irreparably damaged professionally. I remember well how, as a kid playing YMCA soccer in suburban Maryland, I learned the universal lesson we were reminded of yesterday: being a goalie is hell. Perhaps the only goalie to have won the Nobel Prize for literature, Albert Camus (in the front row in the snazzy clothes below) wrote that what he know most surely ‘about morality and the duty of man,’ he learned from playing football at the Racing Universitaire d’Alger in Algeria as a young man.” (Soccer Politics)

The Question: Why is the modern offside law a work of genius?

“Nothing in football is so traduced as the offside law. Most seem to regard it as a piece of killjoy legislation, designed almost to prevent football producing too many goals and being too much fun, while for the punditocracy it has become the universal scapegoat, the thing that ‘nobody understands’. Just because Garth Crooks doesn’t get something, though, doesn’t make it a bad thing. The modern offside law may be the best thing that’s ever happened to football, and it is almost certainly the reason Barcelona have been so successful with a fleet of players whose obvious asset is their technique rather than their physique.” (Guardian)

England 1-1 USA: England poor in possession, US get wide players forward well

“England were the better side, but struggled to make their dominance count and came close to losing the game. The USA’s 4-2-2-2 shape caused problems and prevented England’s full-backs from getting into the game. England started with their usual shape from qualification, Wayne Rooney partnering Emile Heskey upfront. In Gareth Barry’s absence, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard played together in midfield and James Milner started on the left – although only stayed there for half an hour.” (Zonal Minute)

For Abject England, Expect More of the Same
“England fans have traditionally been guilty of the sin of not really looking. Reading the English press, there seems a general sense of shock about how their team performed in their first game yesterday. But to a neutral observer, the result, and England’s sorry, tired performance, was not really all that much of a surprise. And while they are still a smart bet to get out of this group, it is hard to imagine an English team with so many obvious deficits advancing very far in this tournament.” (EPL Talk)

Luck of the draw
“For the United States, Saturday’s 1-1 tie with England wasn’t quite 1950 vintage, but the team will take it. Ties, of course, never taste as sweet as victories. But when your team falls behind early, gets a Santa Claus-sized gift from the opposing goalkeeper and hangs on to snag a point against the presumed group favorites, the aftertaste is plenty satisfying. In the process, the U.S. did plenty to enhance its chances of reaching the second round.” (ESPN)

England miss out on fine start as USA benefit from Robert Green gaffe
“Just as South Africa opened their World Cup with a goal that will be remembered forever, so England, as is their wont, contrived to open theirs with a goalkeeping blunder that will never be forgotten. No sooner had Fabio Capello placed his confidence in Robert Green than his judgment was mocked by the sort of bungle no professional footballer can comfortably watch, an unforced error that allowed the United States back into a game on which England appeared to have a comfortable grip after Steven Gerrard’s early goal.” (Guardian – Paul Wilson)

England ask too much from Rooney bursts of brilliance
“It’s all very well saying that England have the man to beat the world in Wayne Rooney but no one can really do that, not on his own and not even Diego Maradona when you get right down to it. Not when one disaster is piled upon another as swiftly as it was here last night, which is to say as quickly as the night swoops down on the highveld. Suddenly, Rooney and his team-mates knew that they had two huge tasks. One was to beat a United States team who had made an impressively spirited response to an early setback.” (Independent – James Lawton)

World Cup 2010: Alan Shearer on England
“I feel desperately sorry for goalkeeper Robert Green after his horrendous mistake led to the United States’ equaliser against England. But I’m not surprised to see the criticism he has got in the newspapers back home because that is part and parcel of being an England player – in fact, I expected him to get more stick than he has done. I was impressed he came out to face the media afterwards because he could have hidden away. Instead he has faced up to what’s happened, and said how he was trying to forget about it. Strangely, he appeared more relaxed and composed when he was talking after the game than he did beforehand.” (BBC)

1-1

“Tim Howard may be Jesus’s desktop, but pride kills progress. You can’t claim honest rivalry on one end and moral victory on the other, especially if you went to the game as a knowing participant in a fury of modern hype. Not even Manchester City does that. So for the sake of self-respect, or whatever the equivalent is when you’re writing about hope and strangers, it has to be acknowledged: our guys missed chances that didn’t want to be missed (Altidore missed one in each half), gave up a goal that didn’t want to be scored, defended clumsily at times, and got pinned back in their own territory for far too much of the second half.” (Run of Play)

England 1-1 United States (USA) – Video Highlights and Recap – World Cup – 12 June 2010

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“One of the most anticipated 2010 FIFA World Cup Group Stage matches took place on Saturday, June 12, 2010 as England faced the United States. The only other time the two teams met in the World Cup was in 1950 when the USA upset England 1-0.” (The 90th Minute)

England 1-1 USA
“England goalkeeper Robert Green suffered a World Cup nightmare as they were forced to settle for a disappointing draw in the opening game of their campaign against the United States. Steven Gerrard gave coach Fabio Capello the perfect start to this South African mission when he slid Emile Heskey’s pass beyond Tim Howard after only four minutes. And while England rarely hit the heights, they were maintaining their advantage in relative comfort until five minutes before half-time when West Ham United’s Green suffered the lapse that will haunt him.” (BBC)

Goalkeeping blunder hands U.S. hard-earned point vs. England
“Clint Dempsey scored on a blunder by goalkeeper Robert Green in the 40th minute, and the United States came from behind to tie England 1-1 in the Americans’ World Cup opener Saturday. Steven Gerrard put England ahead in the fourth minute, blowing past Ricardo Clark to beat goalkeeper Tim Howard from short range.” (ESPN)

Best Football Books in English

“Your first book is Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, about an obsessive Arsenal fan. Isn’t it a bit depressing? It’s not depressing! It’s very funny and was also almost the book that started this all off. Actually, the book that started it all off was Pete Davies’s All Played Out. That came out in 1990, and has been called the John the Baptist to Nick Hornby’s Jesus. Because when Pete Davies’s book did well, publishers realised there was a literate football fan audience out there, and then Nick Hornby came and proved it with a vengeance in 1992.” (Five Books – Simon Kuper)

Cometh the Hour

“The winds are howling and the world’s shaking itself loose; at least it feels that way. The night scratches its back against our houses, the heat of the day falls away like a dream; and then the cycle reverses, unpredictably, tapping out weird rhythms of hot-cold that upset our animal patterns over the days of this tense spring. There is a feeling of unrest in the Land of the Free, a disquiet. The feeling is immanent and of the time. It has been here before and will be again.” (Run of Play)

England beware a steadily advancing USA

“Two weeks ago in Philadelphia, at the half-time stage of the United States’ final send-off friendly, home fans could have been forgiven for a sense of deep pessimism about their country’s chances of making an impact in South Africa. West Ham’s Jonathon Spector had just been thoroughly tormented by the gifted young Turkish forward, Arda Turan, who had scored to give the Turks a 1-0 lead, but it could easily have been two or three more. Having already lost 4-2 to the Czech Republic four days earlier, the US team’s official, Nike-generated slogan of Don’t Tread On Us was looking as hubristic as it did four years ago when they left Germany with just one point and two goals.” (WSC)

Lights, Camera, Action

“Back in December, when England and the United States were drawn in the same World Cup group, an instant thought went round my head: This might just revive my flagging career as a Hollywood movie star. Six decades before Saturday’s clash in Rustenburg, the two nations met in Brazil in what turned out to be the biggest World Cup upset of them all. The shock 1-0 victory for the US was immortalised in film a few years back, with yours truly playing the part of the BBC radio commentator in order to help tell the story. The movie, released in 2005, was initially called The Game Of Their Lives, although it was later retitled The Miracle Match for DVD.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

Five Things To Watch For In The England v USA Match

“The United States and England will begin their 2010 World Cup with a match against each other in Saturday, June 12, 2010. The winner of this match will be the favorite to win the group so it could be a very crucial match when it gets to the knockout stage. So, what will be the major points of the match and what will determine the match? Which players will be crucial to England and the United States? Who has to play well for both sides to get a result?” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup scouting: The 32

Matías Fernández (Chile)
“The following 32 names represent Football Further‘s players to watch at the 2010 World Cup. We’ll be following their performances closely over the course of the tournament, with weekly scouting reports rounding up their progress. Names preceded by squad numbers. Players in bold have been scouted by Football Further in the build-up to the World Cup. Players in brackets were scouted but not called up by their national sides.” (Football Further)