Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
England performed much better in their final group game, finally showing the form that had got them to South Africa in the first place. After Jermain Defoe’s sweet volley put England ahead, there were some nerve-racking moments as Slovenia threatened to equalise. But England looked dangerous too, and could and should have scored more goals. It was an exciting game, which made up for the dull, frustrating draw with Algeria.
Call it English bias, but I thought Algeria were unlucky to come away with nothing against the USA. Maybe they didn’t deserve a victory, but they matched Bob Bradley’s men on shots and possession, and made it extremely difficult for the team that call our national sport “soccer”. But whilst Algeria deserved a draw for their effort in this game, the United States deserved to qualify for the second round for their overall effort in Group C. Having finished ahead of England on goal difference, Donovan and company go on to face Ghana, with Uruguay or South Korea awaiting them in the quarter finals if they make it that far.
Ghana then Uruguay or South Korea seems a far less daunting prospect than Germany, then Argentina or Mexico in the quarter finals, which is why I cursed Landon Donovan for his 92nd minute goal. James Southern, my fellow World Cup blogger, commented on an England-related Facebook status of mine to tell me that “those hobbits had an easier time getting to Mordor than we will to the World Cup”. I can understand his sentiments, and hope England can take heart from the efforts of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.
On the subject of effort, Wayne Rooney seemed to put a bit more in against Slovenia. He’s still not showing the level of performance that made him Players’ Player and Footballer of the Year this season, but it was a start. Only a fingertip save from Slovenia keeper Samir Handanovic denied Rooney his first goal of the tournament, and despite being short of form the Germans will no doubt be wary of the man who made his England debut at just 17 years of age.
There are reasons to be optimistic going into the Germany game. Joachim Löw has brought a young squad with him to South Africa – one of the youngest at the World Cup – so when it comes to experience England have the edge. If the England that turned up against Slovenia turns up against Germany, the quarter finals beckon; the Germans followed up their stunning victory over Australia with a disappointing defeat to Serbia, and their game with Ghana was end to end stuff. Unfortunately, there are reasons to be pessimistic too. As an ever so slightly anti-England Dara O’Briain pointed out on Twitter, managing a mere two goals in a group that was supposed to be easy is a poor return, especially when you’re due to go up against the massive Per Mertesacker. I still believe, but it’s not as easy to as it was a fortnight ago, and if it goes down to penalties in Bloemfontein, I’m sure I’ll lose what little is left of my fingernails.
In the other game from Group D, Australia beat Serbia 2-1 but paid for their heavy defeat against Germany by going out on goal difference. The Socceroos went two up in the second half after goals from Everton’s Tim Cahill and AZ Alkmaar’s Brett Holman, but with Ghana only a goal behind in Johannesburg they needed to win by a four goal margin to reach the second round. Their slim hopes of qualifying from the group were ended in the 84th minute, when substitute Marko Pantelic pounced on a mistake from Mark Schwarzer to pull a goal back for Serbia. The Jubulani was at it again.
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