Got a great text from a mate of mine in England, ” The World Cup has turned out just like World War Two. The French have thrown in the towel, the Americans turned up late, and the English are left to fight the Germans” and not only that but the Italians have picked the wrong side.
The inevitable outcome of Groups C & D was that England would somehow manage to find a way to get Germany in the second round. That is exactly what has happened, after those poor performances against the USA and Algeria, salvaged only with Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Slovenia. And so now the English eagerly await the outcome of Sunday’s clash in Bloemfontein.
So here we go again, all those references back to 1914, 1939 and 1966, which always gets a mention in the press every time these two nations meet in major championships. Of course England v Germany clashes in recent years evoke those nightmare memories of Italia 90 and the Euro 96 semi-finals, where the Germans prevailed on penalty kicks to break the English hearts. If it happens again, the nation will shut down in total despair, and we will never here the last of it.
It’s going to be great, and I’m hoping and praying that this time England will gain the revenge they desperately crave.
Still on the World Cup, and sadly Australia’s exit from the competition, but what a great show they put on against against Serbia yesterday. Winning 2-1 and only just missing out to Ghana on goal difference in a very tight Group D, Cahill & Holman scored two brilliant second half goals to put the Serbs into bottom place and out of the World Cup. A real shame that we stuffed it against Germany in the first game, and were unable to build on our early lead with Ghana, otherwise it would have been us playing the USA in the second round.
