| Ranked 10th in the FIFA world rankings, England boast | | | | in the qualifiers, where England won all but one of their |
| many star players. They are placed in a relatively easy | | | | 10 matches, in style. |
| group C, along with USA, Algeria and Slovenia. Though | | | | Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch |
| England are expected to be group leaders, they have | | | | were particularly impressive, in the forward line; Frank |
| consistently underperformed, whether at Euro 2004 | | | | Lampard and Steven Gerrard did likewise in midfield. |
| and 2008, or World Cup 2006. | | | | On a negative note, some of their stars are injury |
| Arguably, England face greater pressure than other | | | | prone. Ashley Cole is returning after nursing a broken |
| teams because of the British media that hold the | | | | ankle. Ledley King is a good defender who's also injury |
| players up to 24x7 scrutiny, and hype everything they | | | | prone. Another casualty of injury is the celebrated |
| do, to feed frenzied English fans who actually beg for | | | | Beckham whose future as a player has been |
| more. | | | | jeopardized by a career threatening industry he |
| The players are thus converted into tabloid superstars, | | | | suffered recently. Needless to say, Beckham will not |
| and their real or imagined talents are presented in an | | | | play in this World Cup. |
| exaggerated way in newspapers and on television. | | | | Rio Ferdinand has taken over as captain from the |
| And it does not help that many of the England players | | | | sacked John Terry, but has chosen to retain his |
| earn king's ransoms playing in the Premier League. | | | | predecessor as a player in the squad, a move that |
| At a certain point, the media start believing in their own | | | | Beckham has praised. |
| hype. Consequently gullible fans who read these | | | | England are expected to head their group, although |
| reports about their favourite players hold up the | | | | they will not have forgotten their loss to USA, at the |
| players to imaginary standards and are disillusioned | | | | 1950 World Cup. They are likely to meet France in the |
| when the stars don't fulfill their expectations. | | | | quarter-final, and if they survive that match, Brazil in the |
| Getting back to the matter at hand, like some of the | | | | semi-final. |
| other big teams, England have also appointed a new | | | | A team that won in 1966, and whose fans numbering |
| coach, Fabio Capello, in the hope of a better showing, | | | | in millions pray for a repeat performance, England |
| this time around. Capello's presence did improve things, | | | | would do well to reach the semi-final. |