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I felt we were very rusty until half time. But the second half performance was top class. The whole game didnt fill me with confidence for the world cup though

We played much better in the second half, its still very difficult to choose our staring XI however, lots of players have made cases to go to SA. Hopefully our strongest line up, will start better than vs Egypt, when we face their biggest rivals.

Nice to see a valid opinion on the similarities between Egypt and Algeria

Actually, Algeria played 4-5-1 yesterday and not only Bougherra was missing - so was Meghni.

Let's take a look at England's first team, position-by-position.

GK: Still no consensus on who should be the Number 1.
RB: Glen Johnson - injured.
LB: Ashley Cole - injured.
CB: Rio Ferdinand - injured.
CB: John Terry - potentially divisive?
RM: Aaron Lennon - injured.
LM: Steven Gerrard - out of position.
CM: Gareth Barry - decent.
CM: Frank Lampard - unable to match club form for England.
ST: Emile Heskey - never scores.
ST: Wayne Rooney - top class.

So is that the team that's going to win the world cup, is it? Ha. Fat chance. England needed that win to get over recent setbacks, but it still wasn't particularly convincing. I don't expect anything more than a quarter-final from South Africa (though they should still beat Algeria).

I know this is only the run up to the WC, but after the poor performances of teams in the ACN and now this poor round of results, African chances are looking rather shaky in my opinion.

The fact that Ivory Coast and Nigeria will have new managers who need to form their team and tactics and only have a few months to do it, is disconcerting.

Add to this that the African teams have pretty tough groups and in my opinion there is the real possibility that only 1 team will get out of their group. South Africa actually have the easiest of groups as they are seeded, yet they are by far the worst African team.

Looking at Algeria on paper, and judging by their form, i just don't see how they can qualify from the group. USA are not a bad side and nor are Slovenia. England surely can't screw up getting out of the group though, can they?

Its ironic that Africa's best didn't even qualify for the tournament.

@ Phil,

Please, with all due respect, it isn't fair to dub South Africa as "by far the worst African team". Especially in regards to the SA fans and enthusiasts out there. Yes, they have the lowest potential and a very shaky current record but no one saw them coming in the Confederations cup last summer either. They went up to the semies, lost by a 1 goal margin to Brazil and forced Spain to a 3-2 victory during extra-time.

All these predictions on how well African teams will fair in the upcoming WC are shenanigans talk. Wait till June 11; we have only 98 more days left. Time flies. It will all be a different ball game. ;)

Maybe England did not learn too much about Algeria from playing Egypt, but I think they saw a good passing opposition team who could cause them a problem or two. As for Algeria, they will park the bus in front of their goal and count on set pieces to threaten, so I would not worry about them too much. England's challenges are likely to come in the later rounds.

As for African team, it is not looking too bright at the moment. Ghana could be the best team, but they are in the toughest group. It is possible that all African teams could be eliminated in the first round, but how many surprises have we seen in recent World Cups? It is interesting that Egypt seems in a class of their own in Africa, yet they failed to qualify.

Any African team that makes it to the second round of this world cup should give themselves a big pat on the back.
In reality they don't stand a chance.
However idealists will be praying and hoping one of them gets to the semi-finals.
Once again in reality,NO CHANCE.

Egypts 4-0 win over Algeria recently shows the difference in class. Algeria really didnt turn up for the African Cup of Nations - they showed poorly and will not be a threat to England in the World Cup provided the English team can stay focused and determined, which they did yesterday.

I think I will bet on England for this world cup. The odds are good and Capello's record is outstanding at every team he has been. Getting a good result out of a depleted side who do not even have a good day is a sign of a genius and the Italians are the best at winning in these circumstances. The trick is bound to work once again.

Hi Piers, as a Wednesday fan I can tell you that Bougherra could make a big big difference for Algeria against us in the summer. A disjointed England slow out of the blocks could find themselves up against an Algerian side under instruction to keep it tight at the start but gain confidence as the game goes on. The Algerians have a very tight knit squad and one that will work hard for one another. Unless England get an early goal it could be a very nervous encounter and I'm not sure we've faced anything like Bougherra, a defender so composed on the ball and his ability to run forward out of defence and attack. Gareth Barry in a defensive central midfield role will prove key to snuffing out the threat but if Bougherra manages to break through, his pace and power could see him outdo England's centre halves. One to watch for sure.

Algeria lost to Serbia 3-0, and as an Algerian, I was quite happy since a wake-up call to the National team was needed after their relative success in the African Nations Cup where they reached the semi-final (a competition where they last appeared in was in 2004!).

On another front, the team that played yesterday was not a full strength team;

1. The goal keeper (Gawaoui) has just come back from an operation [the No.1 keeper Chaouchi was not called up by the coach Sadaane maybe never again after his reaction to the referee i the las African Cup]

2. Yahia and Haliche (the central defenders) are both coming back from injuries. In fact, Antar Yahia has not played competitive football since the African cup in Angola.

3. Madid Bougherra, our main defender, and Mourad Meghni, our playermaker (along with Ziani), were injured.

4. Our coach (Sadaane) still adamant not to call Abdelmalik Zyaya, a top-class striker, maybe just because he is not playing in Europe.

Finally, I am sure when the World Cup comes around and the whole squad is together (and hopefully no injuries) things will be different.

Remember the game that Egypt played versus England was a friendly game, when it is Algeria against England for 3 points, things will be different.

Oh England fans, watch out for Meghni, Ziani and Matmour.

Lastly, I have a feeling that under Capello, ENGLAND will get to the final and play SPAIN.

Great article Piers, a really enjoyable read. Although, I can't resist being a bit nit-picky and point out that the last time we played North African opposition was at the '98 World Cup when we beat Tunisia 2-0 with goals from Shearer and Scholes.

I'd agree that Egypt are a superior side to Algeria, but not by much. Egypt's 4-0 win against Algeria is not really representative of the difference in class; I watched the game and it was fairly even until a flashpoint near the end of the first half, in which Egypt went ahead due to a penalty and a sending off (an incident similar to the one without the red card at Wembley last Sunday). Algeria then ended the game with nine men due to some fouls, quite frankly comical in the obviousness of the intent and Egypt took advantage of the game becoming stretched. I agree though that Algeria will offer a very different challenge to that of Egypt though.

I think we could easily see a number of African teams make the second round including South Africa (who I think have a good chance of beating Uruguay and giving France and Mexico a game at home). It should be remembered however that despite South Africa's impressive display in the Confederations cup, the only teams they beat were Iraq and New Zealand. Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana all have a chance of qualification if they can get their A-game on. Beyond the 2nd round I am unsure though.

Not sure friendlies at home this time of year tell you very much anyway. Many players are going to be more concerned with their club's performance in domestic league and Europe. Capello must already have his team picked since he did little experimentation. The big thing for England was not to have anyone come away seriously injured.

If England make semis they will have done very very well. We all know Spain is going to walk away with it, Brazil is looking well organized and even its "divas" like Robinho are looking more disciplined this time. Germany are looking really strong too. Beyond that...France are a mixed bag, Argentina were in trouble even before Mad Mara took over, US might get to the quarters, etc.

And I don't think team selection is going to be the deciding factor. Biggest factor is, Capello started by taking over a dispirited team with some big egos, he's done extremely well when you remember that. He is a fabulous manager, although I think he got in wrong in demoting JT and its hurt his self confidence.

One thing I find hard to understand: why are we looking at centre-backs to have real pace? Is it because these days, full-backs spend more time attacking than defending? When I was able to regularly attend professional games in England, the last person you expected to be fast was your centre-back. We all know Terry is a bit of a cart horse, but a properly organized defence should not need fast centre-backs. Maybe the full-backs should concentrate more on the defensive side of their game...

England v Spain final............gerrard and rooney 2-1 ..........football's coming home!!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

"the difference of their level of fitness when playing under CAF (cairo) rules.That's why egypt will find it very difficult to qualify for FIFA world cup."

A match still lasts 90 minutes, even under the CAF! The CAF may be based in Cairo, but it has representatives from all the nations of Africa, so Egypt should not have any advantage over any other African Nations and it belittles their significant achievement as a team to infer so. Remember, that this side beat Italy "under scrutiny of the governing body FIFA" in the Confederations Cup.

Like England, the Egyptians had to play qualification games, but also have had the Confederations Cup and African Cup of Nations to contend with in addition to their own domestic season. Take into account the relative journeys of the English and Egyptian players to Wembley and fatigue isn't totally surprising.

YoucefM @13,
I am an Englishman who now lives in Spain.
What do I do if your predicted final is correct?
HELP.

I'm a bit confused...

How can beating Egypt 3-1, who in turn beat Algeria 4-0 not help England much when playing Algeria?

It must give them a lot of confidence that they should get a good result against Algeria at least. And to come from behind and beat a good side and scoring 3 can't be bad for moral especially as some point out, that some players didn't perform as well they should.

I think appointing Capello has been one of the best things England management have done for a very long time and I'm quite confident we will do well in the wc even if we don't win it. He will have restored Englands reputation as a top international side....which none of the other under qualified and spiritless managers could do.

As for the blog entitled, " Beating Egypt will not help England" about half of it deals with anything but????

This was a really interesting read, thanks for the insight.

@19 You are obviously not an African. It is well known that an Egyptian never loses a match in Cairo. In fact at the Abdel Naser stadium even a draw has proved to be beyond the resources of most teams. The very fact that Egypt did not qualify for the WC says a whole lot about CAF and Egypt on one hand and FIFA on the other. I will stretch my imagination a bit and say this is similar to the situation with Man*** and FA on one hand and EUEFA on the other. How else do you explain the domination of the EPL by Man*** and the RELATIVE lack of success on the EUFA managed European stage?

A good summary of recent results for African teams. Crap title.

I love watching African teams in the world cup, Cameroon in '90 were awesome, Nigeria are always entertaining. England have a few issues, especially in defence, but Italy weren't exactly favourites in 2006.

@#5 Oliver: Couldn't agree more......it's heading towards disaster at this point!

@9. Trust me you will eat humble pie come the World Cup.

Friendly matches can be very different from competitive matches in the World Cup with 3 points and qualification to the next round at stake.

You write off the African challenge at your own peril.
Africa is lucky to be represented by the most deadly quartet of teams in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroun. Egypt's absence is unfortunate.

Don't be misled by the poor showing and seeming disorganization with Ivory Coast and Nigeria. When it's time to play serious ball i bet you that Ivory Coast - Brazil, Nigeria - Argentina, Ghana - Germany, Cameroun - Netherlands will be nerve-racking, mouth-watering encounters that will bring out the best in the African teams.

We like the challenge of big teams and there is massive advantage in the underdog status... it puts less pressure on you, giving you all the room to spring a surprise.

Oliver @5 wrote: Let's take a look at England's first team, position-by-position.
I think we should now start to look at the squad for the WC rather then at the team. I say this because there is still 98 days to go (O be calm my fluttering heart) and we have players coming back from injury, so here are my thoughts on the squad for SA.
I have checked each players status and expected recovery time:
Formation: 4,5,1
Goalkeepers: Green
Backs: Johnson back in the next few weeks, Ferdinand ? Not sure if he will be fit. Terry (lets hope this Bridge thing is forgotten and he is back to his best form) and A Cole back in May.
Midfield:
RW; Lennon back in the next few weeks, RC; Carrick, C; Gerrard, LC; Barry, LW; Milner.
F: Rooney (thank God)
I see Carrick and Barry dropping back a little to stop the opposition in attack, allowing Lennon, Gerrard and Milner to press forward and Rooney up front as a lone striker.

Reserve鈥榮: GK; James, Hart; Back鈥檚; Richards, Jagielka, Upson, Baines.
Midfield: Lampard, J Cole, Walcott, Beckham
Forwards: Crouch, Defoe.
That鈥檚 my 23 for SA, I hope that everybody will return to full fitness any those expected back make it in time and all remain fit and are in top form going into the WC.

red lion - I don't think that the fact that Egypt have a fantastic home record and are not in the World Cup is sufficient evidence to support allegations of corruption. It is blatantly obvious that Egypt are a very good side, even in the game against England where they looked comfortable in the first half, and were unlucky in World Cup qualification to come across a revived Algerian side with the bit between their teeth. Egypt failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup because they were a team that found it difficult to travel, but their fortunes transformed in winning the African Cup of Nations at home in that same season.

As much as it pains me to say as an Arsenal fan, Man Utd have won so many trophies in England, because they have a fantastic manager who have consistantly been one of the best teams in the country for over 15 years now. The simple and obvious explanation as to why Man Utd have not won quite so much in Europe, simply because the standard of opposition is higher. Is beating AC Milan the same as beating Sunderland? By your logic, Lyon should have won the Champions League at least 5 times by now given their recent domination of the French league.

This assumption of corruption in Europe at the highest level is simply wrong (outside the Ukraine) and I suspect, despite the fact that that I am not African, that this is also the case in the CAF.

My World cup prediction. After group stage we play in the round of 16 with a team from group D (Germany, Serbia, Australia, Ghana). Sebia and Germany most likely to reach next stage. So we play Serbia or Germany. I can't see England overcoming these two teams. Serbia one of the best team around these days and Germany no need to mention about them. The teams we fail to beat lately: Spain, France, Brazil although all friendly.

Egypt are the best african side right now. Pity their sporting prowess and fair-play are undermined by extra-sporting factors. As for Algeria, I think Saadane is starting to get overwhelmed by the shear weight of expectations. In Mexico86, he had the best bunch of players this country has ever produced, yet he failed to deliver when even coming 3rd qualified you to the second round. I know some people who have started questioning his sanity: playing with 3 holding midfielders and 1 striker, fielding injured players when operationel ones were at hand, sticking with Mansouri (the worst player I have seen in a long time). Not to forget his displaced placidity on the bench: he always looks like someone who has just had a good lunch and cuddles himself in front of the telly. Against Egypt, even with 1 nil down and 10 players on the pitch, people were looking toward the bench for leadership, yet nothing came and they started taking the law into their own hands. As a supporter of the Fennecs I thank him for past achievements but don't think he can take us any further.

England will beat Algeria easily.It's as simple as that.

Any difficulty in the group - and I cant see there being much! - will come from the USA.

England have a very, very easy group. Probably the easiest.

QF's no bother.

I agree that Algeria little resembles Egypt. Just as Mexico, opponents later in the year, bear little likeness to the USA our other group opponents.

I'm pretty sure the point of playing Egypt was more psychological. Egypt is the best African team. England convincingly beating Egypt is a boost to England and puts a little fear into Algeria (who lost their friendly yesterday) as Algeria knows Egypt is a much better team than themselves.

Ditto, playing Mexico and (hopefully beating them well) should be a psychological boost ahead of playing the USA, a team Mexico is traditionally on par with in CONCACAF play.

The Midland 20 wrote @ 31
England to QF's no bother:
Yes I agree, England should make the QF鈥檚 ok and I think we will meet France there. If you look at the way France struggled against the Irish (hand of god again) England should get past the French.

So on to the Semi鈥檚 this looks like either the Brazilians鈥� or the Dutch, both every good team鈥檚. We lost 1-0 to Brazil with nearly a second string playing for England, yes ok it was a friendly but it gives hope. The Dutch we had a draw with 2-2 last August and we let in two silly goals with mistakes and then we got two from Defoe. So all-in-all I think we do have a chance to get to the Final to meet Spain!

Now this is a different kettle of fish. We lost 2-0 in February 2009, but we had no Ferdinand, Gerrard or Rooney. This gives me hope and after all it鈥檚 the world cup final.

Lets keep the fingers crossed that it works out this way.

Maybe I expect too much from England. They never seem to play attractive football. I saw the game between France and Spain. Great passing, great skill, and great comittment. The pace never seemed to falter. Just like watching Arsenal v Arsenal. I am not an Arsenal supporter but why is it not possible for England to pass the ball around like they do. I think Walcott must have been surprised to be in the squad and even more to be in the starting line up. Especially as Capello said he wouldn't use players that haven't played regularly for their teams. I was astounded that he came out for the second half. In the squad we had four right wingers. Wallcot,Milner, Wright Phillips and Becks. What was the point?

@27, Mickey_O_Dublin: I'm glad you are more optimistic than I am! However, even if many of the currently injured players will recover in time for the world cup, it looks like it will be touch and go with some of them (Ferdinand, A Cole), and even if they do recover, there's no guarantee that they will be at full fitness and in good form in time.

And although I would be happy to see a 4-5-1 myself, you and I both know that Mr Capello will pick Heskey in his starting XI and therefore play a 4-4-2 or at least a 4-4-1-1. I'm pretty sure Micah Richards won't be in the squad, either.

Oliver @ 35:
Call me an optimist but I鈥檓 hoping the likes of Ferdinand and A Cole come back all guns blazing towards the end of the season. That form for England and club returns to Lennon, Walcott, J Cole and Jagielka. My squad @ 27 was intended to have a balance of experience and youth (we do have Euro 2012 to look forward to), you are right Mr. Capello will pick Heskey in his starting XI, I鈥檓 not sure why, he is not what I would call a mobile player! I like to see England run at defences and one touch passing to beat defenders, its so hard to stop a player running at the defence with out giving a way a penalty or a freekick. If we do stick the ball in the air, well with Rooney鈥檚 new found heading skills.

I prefer Crouch to Hesky, Crouch has a great goal scoring record for England, if he would only stop using his arms to climb all over the oppositions defenders, he gives so many free kicks away doing this.

Your right about Micah Richards I only included him in my 2010 WC squad because he is only 22 and will be the next right back for England, this premise goes for Jagielka and Baines, for the centre and left back.

As to the 4-5-1 formation I鈥檓 hoping that Mr. Capello is going to revert to this formation when it gets closer to the WC, with Rooney playing out of his socks for Man U as a lone striker he will finally get the picture and that it was all a ploy (4-4-2) to confuse the WC opposition.

World cup is still months away; the hype from english press is always the reason why england don't go really far as expected. This year's world cup will not be different; most of their players will fade out at the world cup and i can bet my money, Rooney will be a disappointment because he will be shut-out. England will will crash in second round. Anyone that says england is playing really well currently is deceiving himself; nothing has changed except players are been bullied and pressured to play well. That will not work in the world cup.

Glad that ZQLE170 at least remembered the Tunisia game. While we're nitpicking, Michael Owen isn't in the current England squad, and hasn't been for some time now. The general point is a good one, though!

Has anyone else spotted Hellboy in the bottom left-hand corner of the photo?

If England can't beat Algeria, they might as well start packing their bags. But I don't think the group will be that easy. Slovenia beat Russia, which is a better team than England beat in world cup qualifying. But, again, if they're playing reasonably well, they'll win, and if they're not, they can't be helped. The problem is the US. They've had a big result the last few world tournaments they've played. Beating Spain last time, a draw with Italy in the last world cup. I'm expecting them to play negatively against England and wouldn't be surprised to see them draw. So England should do their best to hammer Algeria in case the group comes down to tiebreakers.

Jeez, we English are a pessimistic bunch, aren't we? Glass half-empty. If we believe half of what you lot are saying, the players might as well go on holiday instead of to the WC. Sure, England could lose all of their group games, who knows? But if Greece's win at the Euro Championships showed us, anything can happen in a knockout competition.
I remember 1966 and the general pessimism about England's chances then. Of course, being the host nation gives you a boost, but the group games certainly didn't show England off as potential winners - a turgid 0-0 draw against Uruguay, a 2-0 win against a poor Mexico and a 2-0 gift of a win against France - hardly the stuff of the 'special' team that England became.
Yes, England are not the favourites - Spain have more flair, passing ability and score plenty of goals and the perennial Brazil, Germany, Italy, etc. will no doubt figure in the later stages, but I really don't see why so many are righting off England already.
England often seem to be stifled in their play by the general weight of expectation on their shoulders - one good game and they are potential WC winners, one bad game and they're no-hopers.
Many people criticise the UK press for being too demanding and critical - well, I don't really see much difference between reporters and many of the 'supporters'.
England probably won the WC in '66 because the whole nation got behind them and nearly won the '96 Euro Champs for the same reason.

The African mentally is different. A country like Ghana play well when the stakes are high. A tough group is always good for Ghana. It is country that wants to prove a point all the time, to show the world they can play. By the 5th of June we will know the squad of most of the teams and determine their strength and weakness. I always say the using ACN is a bad way of judging who will do well in the world cup. It tells you why Egypt have failed two successive times as ACN champions. Cameroon are a difficult team to beat, SA will make to the next round due to history of the WC.Ghana will also qualify. I fear for Ivory coast because of their bad defending and mentality. Either Spain or Brazil will not make it to the semis one will knock each other out. England should prepare for an upset by the 1/16th and it will be at the expense of an African team.

Good thread.

But dont forget that Algeria beat Ivory coast in the quarter final of the CAN. And they played VERY well. So don't underestimate us just yet.

Hi Piers,

Could you possibly go through tapes of previous Algeria games - particularly those of the qualifiers - just to be sure about their formation? I think, Algeria's default formation has actuall been 3-5-2 (which becomes 5-4-1 when on the back foot. They even started the Africa Cup in Angola in 3-5-2 and only switched to 4-4-2 after their defeat to Malawi.

A French TV(Canal +)crew embedded in the team since the WC qualifiers, kept wondering why they were using such an unfashionable system. Then When Saadane changed in Angola to the conventional 4-4-2, they asked him if that would be maintained at the WC. He said he would return to a back 3. In fact, as a fellow "poster" indicated above, that is the way they appeared at the game against Serbia.

I would say it was not a bad thing for England to play Egypt. I suppose managers attempt to get what is closest to their opponents' style and conception of the game. Egypt are definitely a cut above Algeria but both have a north African approach to the game that may provide learning points for the players,Capello etc.

And if one were to be pedantic about things, then most friendlies should not be taking place at all; because no two teams (especially national sides) are the same. I wonder who the Dutch would get to replicate Cameroon, or the Greeks to mirror Nigeria. Senegal are not Nigeria, don't play like the Super Eagles, so too the Ivory Coast or even Gabon are not photocopies of Cameroon.

Didn't you or the sub push it a bit on the "statement headline" of this blog entry?

Piers,
Now to the predictions game.

I suggested in one of your early blogs that Cameroon looked like the potential home-runners for Africa at this tournament. I still hold the view even after their poor showing at the Africa Cup.

They are quietly building their squad and preparing for the World Cup which is the established focus of their coach. The fact that he was maintained after the sloppy AFCON is actually a good sign. At the moment they may not shine but they could be hard to beat come June.

I however do feel let down by Nigerian and Ivorian authorities. Whether it is Hiddink or Murinho or Beckenbauer - changing coaches at this point for the Ivory Coast and Nigeria seems to be a bad idea.

It is the result of the African mentality of miracles and magic. How else does one interpret expectations that a coach with only a month (in reality) to know, pick, and train a bunch of assorted players from various leagues and clubs can lead to a WC semi-final!?

I know the Ivorians would say Hiddink changed things at Chelsea last season. But that is a club where he trained the players day-in and day-out. They'd say he took little fancied South Korea to the semis in 2002 and Russia to the 2008 Euro semis(?). But he was head coach at those national teams for more than one month.

Yet, at least two other African teams will make it out of the groups in South Africa...Real surprise packages (reserved for my bookmakers)!

To No. 44. You are correct. I have watched all of Algeria's matches during qualifying, and we played a 3-5-2 in all of them except the game away to Egypt where we played a 4-5-1. In the CAN, Algeria played the first game against Malawi with a 3-5-2 but then changed to 4-4-2, because the previous formation didnt seem to work without Anthar Yahia, who was injured at the beginning of the tournament. Even when he returned, we still played 4-4-2 so I believe that MAY be our new formation.
Piers, I agree when you say Algeria have poor attacking options. But, you say Egypt are a 'superior side' without justifying why. During qualifying Algeria where the better team, and you can check that by watching ALL the matches, and not just watching the last two games in Cairo and in Sudan. I am not saying Egypt aren't better than Algeria, I am only asking for your reasoning.

@46- Could not agree more. how can you justify a comment to say that egypt is a superior side than Algeria when in fact it's the latter who will be in South Africa and beat them fair and square during all the qualifiers. to me the semi-final in Angola is a non event due to very dubious refereeing decisions. England beat them 3-1 at wembley, Algeria also beat them 3-1 at home. i hope Mr Piers Edwards will come back to justify his analysis which to be me are unfounded, unless he is too busy having a time of his life with our friend kofi codja somewhere in Sharm echeikh, just kidding!!!

The bottom line is we are not good enough to be in the WC on last wednesday's showing. Or even the last ACN. The good thing is that higher football authorities than Saadane know it and they have taken the matter out of his hands. And hopefully we will see a different Algeria in June. Watch out for 4 or 5 new players. Also one thing working against England is players' burnout. Terry, Lampard, Rooney and to a lesser extent Gerrard have played more games than anybody else in the world.

To Piers,

I agree about Algeria's attack which is very poor at the moment. If anyone watched the Serbia game they would have seen the very easy chances missed by some of the strikers. Also totally agree about the goalkeeper, and I doubt Chaouchi will be in the squad for the world cup due to his temperament. As for Mohammed Aboutreika who I have always rated highly and given much respect to, in my opinion he is past his best. Still a great player though. Where I believe Algeria are better than Egypt is defensively, when all 4 of Yahia, Bougherra, Halliche and Belhadj are fit (and when none of them are sent off). The problem is, many people are basing their opinion on the CAN, which is fair enough considering it is the most recent national competition. However, for some people (not directed at you Piers) to say that Egypt deserved to qualify ahead of Algeria would have to watch the qualifying matches and decide.
But, to move on, if Algeria follow recent form, they will lose to England. However, if they can bring back the spirit of Khartoum, or even the quality they showed against the Ivory coast in the Quarter finals of the CAN,then England become a very beatable team. But England will still be clear favourites, which always seems to suit the underdogs.

Possibly, but we can see why England supporters always expect too much or always decry the team or the performances. The English media don't alllow the team any air to breath.

It is three quartes of the way through the season and it's months since the last qualification match.
England won, I mean if they'd have lost then fair enough moan, but let's have it right. It was an unimportant game against the "currently" best african team.
Fabio Capello used this game to several ends, firstly to keep the "squad" together (keep the momentum up); to see what might come England's way and how these teams can be beaten, or has everybody forgotten England v Cameroon and one certain Roger Miller????

Current form is also no yardstick namely as all teams that have won the World Cup usually start off poorly and just keep growing and getting better. The Germans even call their own national team a "tournament team".
You have to agree with them too, as their football was once dire, but this never stopped them winning plenty of tournaments.
The same "moan" could also be directed at Germany, what was the point of the Argentina game? If anything it was political, i.e. before the last two tournaments Germany have played "no-hoper" teams and this was just to satisfy people moaning about the quality of the opposition in the run up to the tournament.
If anything Germany's performance against Argentina was far more desolate than the England performance, it was boring, lifeless and even against a lackluster Argentina looked poor. But you wouldn't bet against the Germans would you?

All I can say is stop being so negative, so what if England and Capello didn't get a great deal out of the game, who says you have to?

A key here is being in groups A-D as I've said before is favourable but nothing to take for granted. Of course, the big teams in A-D with respect to all the others, England, Argentina and Germany. France obviously does not look threatening though Serbia may be, so out of these two, I think one can break and be a force because Serbia dominated their group and Serbia will want to avenge their appearance last time in '06 were in a tough group and they were a bit humiliated. Serbia could well add their name to the Balkans teams that have made good showing in the World Cup like Bulgaria, Romania or Croatia, maybe Turkey is a Balkans nation too who has done well. Mexico is no team one can take it easy with as Argentina just barely got by them last time and as in past world cups, there will be sleeper teams, maybe Chile or Denmark, but even they are in groups E-H, groups E-H have Fifa 1,2,3,4 in Spain, Brazil, Netherlands and Italy and I'd put in Portugal too as having a lot of potential in the 2nd bracket. So, this is a favourable draw for England. Still, in the semi-finals if I am correct, that is where the two brackets meet each other for the first time, hence, if England progress as well they could face a team like Spain or Brazil in the semi-finals. Stage is set. I am writing from the USA, USA may have won over Spain but most of the other appearances leave a lot to be desired. USA have some big fans but I don't think they'll do it and neither do I think Nigeria or Greece will.

On another note, is it just me, or is the constant omission of Micah Richards a baffling decision by Capello?!

This is made even more pertinent in the absence of Glen Johnson, arguably making Richards the best right back available for us. He is young, versatile and is a likely candidate for inclusion in future Euros and World Cups. IMHO he should be a shoe-in for a seat on the plane to SA.

Additionally, regardless of differences in style to Algeria. Egypt surely represented a beneficial workout as they convincingly defeated the Desert Foxes and have won their continental competition THREE times on the spin. They're no chumps!

Once again Egypt 鈥� the holder of the ANC 鈥� has shown itself to be a disgrace outside Africa. I have said many a time that the way to play Egypt is to deny them space by closing them down as soon as they get the ball 鈥� which is what England did to them. It was exactly what the Algerians did to them in the World Cup qualifier. This stops their fluent passing 鈥� the core of their game -- and render them ineffective.

So too are the Algerians, but whereas the Egyptians are an attacking team, Algeria is a defensive team, waiting to go on the attack with good result. Indeed, the Algerians are at their best and a joy to watch when they are on the attack. And I often wonder why they don't always play like that.

Further, the Algerians are good at defending and closing down the opponents and they also know how to get Wayne Rooney sent off 鈥� mark my words. So what did Capello learn apart from the fact that like the Algerians, the Egyptians also complain and moan a lot 鈥� although there was little of that in that game. I don't know, would be my answer.

These anti-African commentators keep writing about African countries not making it, but at least they are in the finals. FIFA bent over backwards to give four countries (Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland) of GB+NI, the opportunities to reach the finals but only one made it -- coming top of her group with Ukraine (who?), Andorra (don't make me laugh!), Kazakhstan (Kaza wat?), Belarus (come again?).

Further, since the inception of the World Cup, and with the higher probability that GB+NI has -- 4 countries-- than any other country to win the World Cup, only once had GB+NI won it. What a statistics given her 鈥渨orld class鈥� (LOL) players with 鈥渃haracter鈥�. Let African countries worry about their teams. If you don't want others to rubbish your team, then don't do the same to their teams.

Wayne Rooney has improved a lot and I can say that he has become a world class player but still in the second league 鈥� we shall see after the World cup whether he makes it to the 1st league or not.

But who else is a world class, or near world class, player in the English team? I can't see any. Oh! Sean Wright-Phillips is a good player but because he is neither good-looking nor sleeps with his best friend's girlfriend, he is hardly mentioned as one of England's best.

I used to find Aston Villa's James Milner very one-dimensional because of his 鈥淚-must-put-in-crosses-come-what-may鈥� approach, but lately, I am beginning to change my opinion of him since he started playing in a more central role. That is not to say that he is a world class player, but I would choose him over Steven Gerrard who has a 鈥渨ork for 10 minutes, have 30 minutes break鈥� work ethics.

All the players, I have mentioned have one thing in common, namely, they can dribble and like taking on their opponents, which is a very useful skill in the World cup. 鈥淣uff said鈥�.

#57 akaExpensesFiddler

Your post is cracking me up!!!!

England shows great enthusiasm on the pitch and they are very hungry. But win from Egypt does not mean that they can beat other teams. it all depend on how that team perform on that day. England can beat all but never underestimate team like Ivory Coast, Argentina, Portugal, this team can be a dark force in the upcoming World Cup. So watch out guys!!!!!

Beating Egypt in a friendly should hardly fill England with any optimisim about wining WC. They may scrape past the group stage, but am betting my house that they get knocked out in the second stage. England simply cannot win with its current squad of overrated players.
Truth is the media hypes up these players only for them to be knock-back to the bottom rung of the ladder in international competions ,and the WC is not exception.