The trademark England zombie stagger into the sudden death rounds continues: and of course, the bunting stays up after all. There are going to be a few pissed off, low paid shop staff around tonight. If you think there aren’t, then you probably also think we could have won by “four or five nil” to quote Alan Shearer. Another way of putting that is that if Hamdanovic had been able to get an effective block on Jermaine Defoe’s volley, then it would have been nil nil.
Then again, it might well be Germany we meet on Sunday, so that’s time and a half for the folks at Tesco.
I think you're underestimating the canonical distinction between Slow Zombies and Fast Zombies. That was very much a Fast Zombie performance.
And I'll be delighted if we draw Germany. Being scared of Germany at football is like going on about the Fall, it dates you. Looking at the squad, there's not that many who remember 1990, and a lot more who remember 2000 (England beat them despite being crap) and 2001 (England trash them out of sight).
The ones that worry me would be Serbia; like Slovenia, but better. Ex-Yugoslav teams are always good value.
Posted by: Alex | June 23, 2010 at 06:10 PM
It all depends on tonight I suppose. if it's the Germany that dispatched the Aussies without breaking much sweat, I can see them beating Ghana, and, therefore, us. I'm taking Germany here as the representative first rate team who we go out to as soon as we meet them in competition. Of course, that could be the Serbs or the Ghanaians for that matter.
Posted by: jamie | June 23, 2010 at 06:17 PM
The ones that worry me would be Serbia; like Slovenia, but better. Ex-Yugoslav teams are always good value
No
Posted by: ejh | June 23, 2010 at 07:01 PM
You could as well link to England 5 Germany 1.
Posted by: Alex | June 23, 2010 at 07:19 PM
Fair point about the Germany hoodoo, but that result was all of nine years ago as well.
Posted by: jamie | June 23, 2010 at 08:02 PM
Well, it's Germany. The Serbs got beaten by the Aussies. A couple of terrific games as well, unlike the one this afternoon.
Posted by: jamie | June 23, 2010 at 10:01 PM
Like it or not, the Germans are a much more accomplished footballing side than England, though they probably do lack that sturdiness and will-to-win that they had in the 80's and much of the 90s. England will probably have to depend on stopping them playing and hoping that a long-ball or a well-placed cross causes enough havoc in the German defence for them to nick a goal.
Posted by: Igor Belanov | June 24, 2010 at 08:41 AM
Oh, and that 5-1 was a massive freak result. Germany dominated possession but Owen took advantage of one the slowest back fours ever. In England's next game they were extremely lucky to scrape that home draw with Greece.
Posted by: Igor Belanov | June 24, 2010 at 08:43 AM
that 5-1 was a massive freak result
Don't know about that, but I do remember that the German crowd were cheering passes, five minutes into the game. It was a funny one, alright.
Posted by: FlyingRodent | June 24, 2010 at 09:05 AM
I thought Germany were very scrappy against Ghana (who were even worse, although more aggressive). Damn shame England couldn't win the group - then it would have been them facing Ghana followed by the winner out of Uruguay and South Korea, instead of Germany followed by the winner out of Mexico and Argenbloodytina. (USA in the semis? Could happen.)
Posted by: Phil | June 24, 2010 at 10:38 AM
There could be a case for saying that England might actually do better frustrating a team that passes the ball about and attacks, rather than descending into a scrap against one of the lesser sides where anything could happen.
Uruguay have been one of the best sides in the tournament, qualifying convincingly from a difficult group. I don't think anyone will be that keen to face them on present form.
Posted by: Igor Belanov | June 24, 2010 at 11:03 AM
I don't think Germany has the same hoodoo hold as in the past, but the of two significant victories, one was in a dead rubber at the Euros (2000?) and the other was on a par with when England beat the Dutch in Euro '96 - an exception, perhaps, rather than a rule. They'd have fancied their chances more against Ghana, especially as the Ghanaians have yet to score in open play. (That said, Ghana v USA could be a corker.)
Posted by: redpesto | June 24, 2010 at 11:20 AM
Updating my spreadsheet, I note that Germany are now back ahead of us, and that Uruguay and Japan are in the top four.
Posted by: Alex | June 24, 2010 at 11:31 AM