Sorry to break it to those optimistic England fans who actually believe England have a chance at the 2014 World Cup, because we don’t!
When you consider that only once before has a European side has won a World Cup outside Europe, it doesn’t bode well for Roy Hodgson and England! There is also the minor fact that we are technically miles behind the likes of Spain, Germany and Italy, with the latter embarrassingly better than us at the previous Euro 2012 campaign.
Despite the calls for many youngsters to be bled, the likes of captain Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and especially Ashley Cole still warrant a starting birth due to their levels of performance; however when you consider that Cole, the youngest of the trio, will be 33 come Brazil 2014, we need to hope that the young potential of numerous English players shines through in time for the World Cup!
Granted we’ve become harder to beat under Hodgson, hence why he’s still unbeaten as England manager, but whenever the big performance is needed, too frequently England disappoint. No one more has disappointed on the big stage then Wayne Rooney, who Euro 2004 aside, has yet to have a really good international tournament, yet despite this, England need Rooney to perform!
For me we’ve only got four world class players (Joe Hart, Rooney, Cole and Gerrard) which is nowhere near the amount the likes of Spain, Germany or even Belgium have at their disposal. Our inability to keep the ball against sides was so evident at the European Championship, and that needs to be rectified if we are going to even qualify for Brazil.
Still convinced we’ll succeed, well here’s a little note of whom we’ll be up against: Spain have just won the last three major tournaments and show no sign of being derailed on their journey to greatness; Germany’s young generation will be two years older and will only improve; the most successful country of all time will be hosting the damn thing! To coin an old phrase, if England go further than any of them three I’ll eat my hat! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the fact the world’s greatest player and his country will be there too.
Good luck Roy!
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/e-01_LJ1Kng” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
