England: C is for Caution

While many in the press are getting about giddy England’s World Cup draw I can’t help feeling that perhaps the majority of us should be keeping our feet on the ground.

Hailing our Group C opponents as the “easiest” of all time is perhaps a little strong as while the USA, Algeria and Slovenia are hardly names from footballs illustrious past, they all represent that tired old cliché that “no games at this level are easy”.

Watching the first part of the draw on the BBC before leaving work to tune into the rest on the radio I must admit that the drawn out bore-fest made better listening than it did viewing.

The best bit of the pre draw entertainment was wondering which of Cape Town’s nightspots the likes of Lineker, Motson and Lawrenson were heading to afterwards, with all of them looking like a muggers dream in their chinos and tucked in shirts pressed to perfection.

Then came the star of the show; the draw’s host South African superstar Charlize Theron. Never before has such elegance been made out of wood; but the Monster actress managed it with her Eurovision Song Contest style presentation skills fused with Hollywood glamour. No wonder FIFA President Sepp Blatter was left slumped in his front row seat mopping his oversized brow.

After Theron had feigned interest and let some other FIFA dignitary warble on about how the draw works and what we should do if we wanted to take our own life if the draw got too much, the main event was ready to begin.

With no need for a ball by ball account of what happened next, we all now know England were handed the afore mentioned USA, Algeria and Slovenia while other group highlights included the Group of deaths such as Group G (Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea) and our neighbouring Group D (Germany, Austrailia, Serbia and Ghana).

While there is no doubt that England should progress to the knockout stages, winning the group must be our priority and we will get off the toughest possible opponents on June 12th against the USA.

Our American cousins have shown in recent years that they should not be mocked as the “soccer” remedials who are more likely to catch a cross field ball than volley it. They have come a long way since the “miracle on grass” that embarrassed England in the 1950 World Cup Finals in Brazil. Almost sixty years later the American’s sit four places adrift in terms of FIFA rankings and looked extremely dangerous at last summers Confederations Cup in South Africa were they knocked out Spain in the semis before scaring Brazil in the final.

Uncle Sam’s squad boasts an impressive talent pool. AC Milan’s Oguchi Onyewu is strong in defence, the likes of Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard are well respected amongst Premier League opposition while Beck’s sparring partner at LA Galaxy Landon Donovan will be wanting to prove that he is a star worthy of the world’s biggest stage.

If there is a danger of underestimating the strength of the USA, then the same can be said of our next two opponents Algeria and Slovenia. The Algerians have four players based in England themselves and will not fear us, especially after going toe to toe with rivals Egypt in somewhat of a bloodbath to make the finals. The well organised Slovenians will also be tough to beat. This is their fourth trip to a major tournament despite only playing their first match as a country in 1992. Any side that can knock out Russia in the playoffs is more than capable of causing an upset on their day.

But while I will be quietly expecting us to win the group I don’t expect it to be as “E.A.S.Y” as today’s Sun’s front page would suggest. But all this excitement about is pointless as even in one of the stronger groups I would still be expecting England to progress. Our trouble will come in the last sixteen and beyond where we will see just how much we have improved under Fabio Capello.

If all the bigger sides progress the way the form book would suggest then the Italian could take us to the semi finals where Brazil are our likely opponents. A win there would perhaps see Spain in the final. So lets not get carried away, we are guaranteed to win nothing and will only be successful if we maintain the professional attitude and keep improving on the level of performance we have achieved so far under our new manager.

It may sound boring but for the first time where England are concerned I am not letting myself get carried away with thoughts of World Cup glory; instead I’m doing things the cautious Capello way.