Today the England World Cup fiasco was, mercifully, ended. The England Team were defeated 4 - 1 by Germany. They should have been defeated 4 - 2 since a definite 100% goal by Frank Lampard was disallowed by the Uruguayan referee because he believed that the ball had not crossed the goal line. TV action replays showed that it was one yard over the line and a goal. This was a shocking decision and makes the argument for electronic checking of decisions yet again. But it does not change the fact that Germany were so far ahead of England in their play that they absolutely deserved their win. This England side would struggle against Ipswich Town on a bad day. They wouldn't, of course, because the circumstances would be different. The England team are always overwhelmed by the weight of expectations. In the build up to the World Cup there was so much talk and writing about this great English team that was the strongest ever and the best team in the world. They are a favourite to win and will be watched on TV and supported in South Africa by millions of people. The team cannot fail. These men can play football. Wayne Rooney is a great player but in the four matches in South Africa he was nowhere. The players may be over-paid prima donnas but at base they are poorly educated working class kids who have had no training in dealing with the pressures of expectations. I know they are ridiculously over-paid but whether they are paid millions or 2½p the pressures are there We can add in lots of other things which make things worse, of course. Preference given to playing for the Premier League clubs that pay there wages. Playing for England comes a poor second. The lads don't like being away from home for extended periods. They are isolated from the partying and booze culture of modern football. Every failure needs a new manager, even more expensive than the last - and he must have a foreign accent.
In spite of all this the England cricket team today beat Australia for the third time in a week. This time they had a major old-fashioned batting collapse in the middle of their innings but still did enough at Old Trafford to secure this third win in One Day internationals. Three wins in a five match series is a win for the series. We seem these days to have a fine cricket team. I hope they stay this good.
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