Shabba at the Gabba

The first test match of the Ashes has drawn, quite literally, to a close and whilst it may not have been the greatest test in history, it was certainly a roller coaster ride and entertaining. England's ability to crawl back from what looked to be certain defeat is a feat that should be remembered for years to come. The number of records broken by the Alastair Cook and his partner, Jonathan Trott, is truly remarkable. Most runs by a batsman in Brisbane surpassing even the great Don Bradman, highest partnership for England in Australia, the first time since 1924 that the top three batsmen have all scored centuries and the list goes on.

Amongst all the records though, it has to be acknowledged that England very nearly lost that test match and if it wasn't for the inspiration of Cook and some pretty lacklustre Australian bowling, the press would be singing a very different tune.

The first day was a real eye-opener for the England batting side. Posting a score of merely 260 proved to not be good enough and would have been a cause for real concern. Peter Siddle's hat-trick demonstrated how vulnerable England could be and the only small consolation was that Ian Bell, who has been injured of late, looked in very fine form. Later in the test it would become obvious that the other Australian bowlers far from hat-trick takers, and even Siddle had difficulty later in the game.

Day two very much belonged to Australia and Mike Hussey in particular. We also saw the worrying sight of Graeme Swann failing to live up to his name as the number two bowler in the world. His failure to threaten the batsmen could be attributed to the condition of the pitch which is true, it most certainly wasn't a spinners pitch in those early stages. However, we have seen Swann use flight as an incredibly powerful weapon in the past, something he didn't do on the second day and instead we were forced to watch him bowl a lot of very short balls which were deservedly smacked away for four by Ricky Ponting.

Day three was very much a similar story. Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin broke the record for the biggest partnership ever at the Gabba, a record that was to stand for a mere two days. The lasting impression was that England would have to bowl a lot better (even though they were unlucky at times) to win the series and that Australia, despite all that has been said, haven't burnt out yet. The final wickets did eventually fall and Steven Finn, who I still think will grow into one of England's finest bowlers, looked in good form.

Days four and five was when we really saw what England can do and what Australia can't. The achievements of the English top three were formidable and set the standard for this series. The success of Cook can also be seen as extra special due to his recent poor form. England went on to pull the game back into their control, and whilst they weren't ever going to win, they stripped the Australians of what very easily could have been their victory.

A few things have become clear in this test match, primarily that it is not going to be easy for England to win this series. Our bowlers have got to adapt to the conditions of Australian pitches, none of the bowlers, English or Australian were good enough, especially in the closing stages when the pitch was falling apart and had plenty of cracks to take advantage of. I pray that the pitches in the coming tests are a little more lively, mainly for entertainment but also because the England bowlers will most probably take advantage of them. The Australian bowlers have not looked threatening enough to trouble the English batsmen, even on a bowlers wicket. Sadly Adelaide is renowned for being flat and in favour of the batsmen. Perhaps there will be more in it for the spinners and we sill see the return of stellar Swann.

I am also becoming increasingly impressed with Australia's opening pair, particularly Shane Watson, who proved that he has talent with both bat and ball in this test, was the pick of the bowlers on the first day before Peter Siddle took off. England will have a lot of work to do to get him and Katich out, but I don't think it is a challenge too far for the likes of Anderson and Broad.

England have the momentum now and have edged their noses in front, leading us into to what should be another great series... if the pitches are as lively as I hope.

Why things will only get worse for football fans

As the BBC comes under increased scrutiny from the government about spending and quality, we football fans are going to lose more and more quality in terms of football broadcasting.

Sadly the BBC lost the rights to broadcast live England matches a while back and since then we have had to put up with ITV's diabolicle attempts. Instead of Gary Lineker's incredibly friendly and warm presenting style and Alan Hansen's harsh but rigourous punditry, we now have to put up with an increasingly awkward Adrian Chiles and, probably the single worst thing about football in England, Andy Townsend.

Since Chiles moved from the bridesmaid position on Match of the Day 2, he has struggeled to fit into ITV's line up. The relationship he shared with Lee Dixon has not yet been formed with his new colleagues and his jokey, "I'm just a fan like you" style really isn't working. As for Andy Townsend, I could write a dissertation on why he should be queuing up for his dole check. My main criticism would be that he offers very little insight for the seasoned football fan. Instead of breaking down defensive mistakes with the detail of Hansen or Gray, he instead offers a running commentary of almost exactly what we are seeing on the screen.

Townsend is not the only man who should have re-thought their career path. The list of ITV pundits reads like a who's who of broadcasting rejects; Jim Beglin, Kevin Gallacher, Matt Holland and Iain Dowie. Sadly for fans of good punditry, by far and away their best pundit, David Pleat, was dropped in 2009.

The BBC and Sky have really got their acts together. I think this is particuarly impressive in the BBC's case as they are publically funded and so have limited funding to produce a service of quality. Lineker and Hansen make a great duo, one rather smiley and likable, the other a miserable realist who tells it like it is. Lee Dixon has certainly come into his own and could become the authority on defensive analysis.

Mark Lawrenson also has a large fanbase, I'm not his biggest fan but his face has become so familiar and it has to said that his predictions slot on Football Focus is rather entertaining. My oppinion of Alan Shearer improved hugely after the World Cup especially after England's loss to Germany when everybody in the BBC studio just wanted to utter obscenities for five minutes solid. Shearer was clearly distressed and told the audience exactly how he felt, which was appreciated when sports broadcaster quite often tip toe around the elephants in the room.

I'm sure many will agree though, that the crown of punditry fits firmly on the head of one man. For me Andy Gray will not be beaten. Not only is it impossible to question his passion for the game but he also has an unrivalled level of knowledge and let us not forget the peculiar computer pen he uses to scribble on the screen during the post match chat.

ITV's incompetence doesn't just lie in their inability to anylise. They have on a number of occasions failed to even broadcast goals cutting to adverts instead. During Liverpool and Everton's FA Cup replay last year, they cut to an advert and came back to the action only to see Dan Gosling celebrating his goal. A similar event happened at this year's World Cup where ITV failed to show its ITV HD viewers Gerrard's early goal against the USA. These events are far worse than ignorance and show exactly why ITV cannot be trusted to braodcast anything of any significance whatsoever.

It saddens me somewhat that ITV's football output is only likely to increase over the next few years. Perhaps they will improve with it but most likely they believe that their coverage is actually pretty decent instead of the reality so obviously being that they spent all their money on buying the rights that they cannot afford to employ anyone decent for it.

Sport is a curious part of the capitalist consumer democracy. It is hugely monopolised (mainly by Sky) and viewers aren't given a choice. On the highstreet, if someone receives poor service in a shop, they can choose to buy the same product elsewhere in the future. On television, if someone does not enjoy the sport coverage they happen to be watching they have to stick with it. The only time where this is not the case was during the World Cup final when both the BBC and ITV broadcast the same pictures. ITV drew 3.5 million viewers whilst the BBC drew in 17 million. This only leaves one question to be asked, why on earth are 3.5 million people watching ITV?

Bad, Sad and Ugly

The Pakistani cricket team hardly have the cleanest hands in world sport. There have been plenty of previous accusations of ball tampering and match fixing in the. Those, however, don't make these allegations any less serious or shocking.

The first serious accusation arose in 1994 when Mark Waugh and Shane Warne reported that Salim Malik, then captain of Pakistan, had offered them bribes to perform badly during a game. Later, both Malik and Ata-ur Rehman were found guilty of match fixing. Then in 2006 on a tour in England, Inzamam ul-Haq's side were accused of ball tampering and subsequently refused to return to the field yielding the game to England. More recently Pakistan lost all four games in their series in Australia prompting the ICC's anti-corruption unit to investigate and the Pakistani Cricket Board to suspend Yousuf, Younus Khan, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

The latest allegations involve Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Kamran Akmal and the captain, Salman Butt. Amir and Asif are alledged to have deliberately bowled three no balls between them. Far more seriously in my opinion though, are the allegations of Pakistan having made plans to throw two of the ODIs which would be a genuine match fixing offence.

This is certainly bad news for cricket which has been trying to shed its reputation of involvement with match fixing and corruption. In 2000 the ICC set up an anti-corruption unit and were said to be delighted with the results it produced, in partnership with the Indian Cricket Board, in removing much of the match fixing and spot bet organising networks in India and in other areas of the world. This latest case proves that spot fixing and maybe even match fixing haven't completely left cricket. Of course, this is just one case and without being too fear mongering and Daily Mailesque, we don't know whether these kind of arrangements are taking place more often. The recent arrests of Essex players, Danish Kaneria, also a very successful Pakistani spin bowler, and Mervyn Westfield prove that this is not a phenomenon resigning itself to history.

Whilst this news is shocking it is, in my opinion, mostly sad. The new Pakistani captain, Salman Butt, was proving himself to be steering Pakistan in the right direction. He still has a lot to learn and Pakistan still have a long way to go but they have a team of genuinely talented young players and could have moulded themselves into an extremely competitive cricketing side. Asif is already known as an extremely talented bowler and currently sits at number three in the ICC test bowler's rankings. Arguably the saddest victim of this saga though is Mohammed Amir, an up and coming 18 year old bowler who clearly has great talent. It takes a real gift to be the youngest ever person to take 50 test match wickets and it can only be considered a tragedy that his future career, if indeed he has one, will be tarnished by these events.

There is also an element of sadness in the fact that the heroic knocks from Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad will be forever overshadowed by the possibility of cheating. Indeed the achievements of the entire England team in winning the series and playing, at times, extremely well may also be forgotten.

There's no doubt that the consequences for any proven guilt must be extremely harsh. I am willing to go as far to say that a lifetime ban from international cricket would be an appropriate course of action. In the short term I am inclined to agree with Michael Vaughan in saying that the upcoming ODIs and T20 games should be cancelled. Sadly, because of the ECB's obsession with cricket becoming the equivalent of oil in terms of its money making ability, this will not happen.

On this basis it is essential that Butt, Amir, Akmal and Asif do not take any further part in the following series. The latest news states that Butt, Amir and Asif will be left out for the first game at least, but there has been very little mention of Akmal. He was accused of deliberately dropping catches in the 2nd test in Sydney after Pakistan looked certain to win the match by a large margin. Pakistan ended up collapsing in the final innings having allowed Australia to post a respectable second innings score.

This kind of thing cannot happen in cricket. It brings the sport in disrepute and cons millions of cricket fans out of their money, allowing them to believe they're watching a real competitive game. I don't necessarily believe that this is happening all the time, in fact I think it is extremely rare, but what instances do exist must be found and stopped. In fairness to the ICC they have already put in a lot of time and effort resulting in many of the fixing cartels being stopped. I hope we won't see anything like this again but sadly the financial draw may be too tempting. Let us set an example with harsh punishments for those responsible and preserve the genuine thrill of a competitive game of cricket.

To drop or not to drop?

Of late, a lot of attention has been given to the failings of one time England sensation and probably our Cricket team's only household name, Kevin Pietersen. Some have considered his recent slump to be worthy of a spell in the sidelines, others consider this to be a momentary lapse and can see his next big knock just around the corner. For me though, his lack of runs gives England an opportunity to test out some other options.

Kevin Pietersen was once a formidable cricketer, and may still prove to be again in the future. He became the fastest ever batsman to reach 1000 and 2000 runs in ODI cricket and the fastest ever to reach 5000 test match runs in terms of time taken. Some of his centuries have been match winners as well, the most significant is perhaps his maiden century against Australia during the 2005 ashes. That was a long time ago though and he has not managed to score a century in a test match since March 2009 and since November 2008 in ODIs.

So what options do the ECB have? They could drop him, which would be a brave decision. Usually being dropped would involve going back to the county and gaining some confidence there, sadly for Pietersen though, Hampshire have made it clear that he is not very welcome there and so would be unlikely to get much time on the field. Alternatively he could spend some time with the Lions but this would very much be a demotion in his eyes and probably hinder any chance of building confidence. Of course the last resort, and the most likely, is to leave Pietersen in the squad.

If he were to be dropped there are a number of options for replacement. First, it is important to consider Ian Bell. He is injured at the moment but was in form before he broke his little toe. I would be very surprised if he wasn't in the squad for the ashes but is it time for him to take over at number 4 in the batting order. There is also Ravi Bopara, who was given a chance to shine for England but after a sensational three centuries in his first three matches, he fell to three ducks against Australia in 2009. They could promote Eoin Morgan up the order, but that may be a little premature having only played one match. Perhaps, if he goes on to produce more performances against Pakistan then there could be a case.

As I have said, it would take a brave selection committee to drop Pietersen but I believe it is a necessary decision. It is important to show each player that there place in the squad is conditional upon their performances. It is also important that we take players to Australia who can score runs and put in the big performances we require if we are to have any success on such unfamiliar wickets. Ultimately the ECB have to decide between the future success of English cricket or maintaining the celebrity of the team. I fear they will make the wrong decision.

What can English football learn from English cricket?

Whilst the English football team flounder, the cricket team are in the form of their lives. Cricket has a very different policy towards international squads. Where England football selection is fickle and inconsistent, cricket, whilst conservative, ultimately has a long term outlook.

It is hard work breaking into an England Cricket side. You have to prove yourself over and over again at county level and then once you are given an opportunity to play at an international level, you have to get off to the best possible chance. You don't have time to muck around and get used to the greater standard of cricket. However, once you have excelled on the international scene and you are offered a central contract, you are into the fold and that is where England's success stems from.

As was the case with the Aussies when they first introduced them, central contracts tie players to their international side and not their county. They are nurtured by the best coaches, and train alongside the same people week in week out. Of course it still remains important for them to work at a county level as well, but it is viewed as practice for a more important challenge.

In recent years, the ECB selection commitee has selected a few choice young talents from the county scene and has developed them. The first is James Anderson, who many agree to be amongst the finest swing bowlers in the world. Stuart Broad was the next to be brought in. He has almost entirely been bred by the England system and, as with Anderson, has turned out to be another great success. Most recently the ECB have opted to bring in the 21 year old Steve Finn. There's no doubt that he is a formidable talent but there are plenty out there who could do just as good a job as him.

The key for the ECB is his age. They have found a very young (by cricketing standards) bowler, suited to bowling on hard, Australian like wickets, and they're now bringing him into the team for full development. He will learn his team mates' games and train with them over the coming months. As a result of this attitude, they have built a team. They know each other and most importantly understand each other. This is not the case in football as most people are aware.

Footballers main priorities remain with their clubs who pay their wages and ensure their fitness. Admittedly an exact replica of the cricket system would not be possible in football, there's far too much money for central contracts to be introduced. What would be good to see though is a system that brought the team together far more often, not just when they have matches to prepare for. We have all seen the benefits of a team understanding each other this world cup. The Spainish squad that went on to win the competition, 19, of a 23 man squad, played in Spain. Ofcourse the English squad had a similar make up but the key was that 13 of them either played for Barcelona or Real Madrid. Even more significantly, of the starting 11 in the final, eight of them played for Barcelona and now, because of David Villa's €40 million move to Catalonia, that number has been increased further. They were team mates and knew how each one of them played played his game.

England have an opportunity to repeat this success. They have a number of talented players moving through English football. Some are young and some are not but with many of England's alledged stars are getting towards the end of their careers and most probably won't see another world cup. They need to use this new generation to really build a side. Despite Theo Walcott's poor form, he could be taken now and turned into a fully-rounded England player. Take others like Micahel Johnson, Aaron Lennon and Joe Hart and develop them so that they suit the English set up. Maybe even glance further into the future and start looking at players like Jack Wilshere. Through this a squad will grow up together and develop into a team.

It may not work, it may be a complete failure, cricket is a very different game to football. With the current state of our national sport, however, it must be worth a try.

The 150th Open Championship

The 150th Open Championship has just finished and it has been another exciting competition, which I admit is not a word that many would choose to describe golf. For those who understand and adore this sport though, and many do, it was a treat.

St. Andrews is a course steeped in history and holds the claim of being the oldest golf course in the world. Some have criticised it for being too easy for a major course, the R&A, however, clearly disagree and use it every five years for the competition. A lush green, tree lined course with quiet, calm water hazards this place is not. It is a rugged, wind ravaged Scottish brute, causing as much trouble to first time tourists as the country's infamous bagpipes.

Another Scottish characteristic was to feature heavily this year, torrid weather. The players fought against lashing rain and powerful winds, so much so that at one point play had to be stopped. Those who were lucky enough to finish their rounds before the worst of it had begun posted the best scores on that day. The weather affected one man more than others. Rory McIloy, who had received a late surge in the betting, squandered his first round lead and Justin Rose, who had started very well, dropped away all together and failed to make the cut. One man worked with the weather though and emerged from the storm as the leader. Louis Oosthuizen, a previously unknown name to all but the most dedicated of fans, posted a score of 12 under for the championship and waltzed into the 3rd round.

Many of the big names failed to really prove themselves. Players such as Phil Micklesen and Ernie Els both left a lot to be desired in their games and although the name on every one's lips, Tiger Woods, looked good at first he soon fell dropping shots mainly through his poor putting.

When Oosthuizen checked over his shoulder to observe the following pack he would have noticed the British talent were hot on his heels. Paul Casey was paired with him for the final round and seemingly had the best chance to catch the South African before he reached the clubhouse. Lee Westwood, England's in form golfer at the moment, played some good golf on the back nine to push himself up to second after Casey bogeyed the fifteenth. McIlroy, after his disappointment on Friday, was able to make a late surge to tie third place with Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey. Despite this British resilience, Oosthuizen managed to hold his nerve and after he eagled the ninth, he looked certain to take the Claret Jug.

This year some lessons have been learnt. Woods will not be changing his putter again anytime soon, in fact he was so disillusioned with his new Nike Method putter he referred back to his old Scotty Cameron Newport 2 for the final round. John Daly, who brought four pairs of 'lucky' trousers, all adorned with garish patterns, will have to go shopping in search of something to bring him a bit more luck. He started well but found himself falling off by the end of the third round. Finally, my outside bet Chris Wood lived up to his underdog status and missed the cut which was a shame especially as I had a fiver riding on his success.

At the end of the tournament, Oosthuizen most definitely deserved to take the jug. He had played exceedingly well over all four days, a consistency unmatched by anyone else. Let us not forget the British though. Casey, Westwood and McIlroy will all take some confidence to USPGA Championship in four weeks. Next year the tournament moves south side of the border and to the garden of England, The Royal St. Georges in Kent.

The State of British Sport

This month England crashed out of the world cup and Andy Murray dropped out of Wimbledon. Some would see this as a very low point in British sport but away from football and tennis, which have understandably occupied people's attention for the past few weeks, the British are actually having quite a successful sporting period.

Last week the English cricket team confirmed a one-day series victory over the old foe and one of the most formidable oppositions in the world, Australia. They also won the ashes last year and have a very good chance of winning them later this year when the action will take place down under. Many cynics are claiming this success to be driven by the sizable South African portion of the team but in reality England's star performers at the moment are English born and bred. Greame Swann, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Paul Collingwood are all fully English and considered amongst the best in the world. The reality is that the players who are of South African descent have done enough to be considered English and we should all be grateful for their help in gaining the World Twenty20 trophy and sustaining England's new found success in all forms of the game.

More success comes in the world of Golf. For the first time since its introduction in 1986, four English golfers find themselves in the top 10 golfers in the world. Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey are also joined by Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy. On top of that rather impressive information, another Northern Irishman, Graeme McDowell, surprisingly won the US Open this year. We also have impressive talent like Chris Wood coming into the game who I fancy to do rather well at this year's open at St. Andrews especially if Tiger Woods keeps his current form and Phil Mickelson repeats his performance from this weeks Scottish Open.

Of course cricket and golf aren't the only sports that we are achieving in. We have the two of the best formula one racing drivers in the world at the moment, at the last Olympic games we came fourth in the medal table and having beat Australia last month, the England Rugby team looks as if it may have a promising few months ahead of it. So forget the football and the tennis, look elsewhere for success because there is plenty of it around.

Scouting Germany

England have just managed to squeeze through to the last sixteen, but the news that they will be facing Germany, especially after their history as two football teams playing together, will not be welcomed as such good news.

Germany have looked impressive in two of their games so far but as evidence that England could most definitely get one over on their sausage loving enemies, one only needs to look as far as their 1-0 loss to Serbia. Whilst Serbia are considered to be a formidable side, they did not manage to get out of their group and undoubtedly benefited from a soft red card for Miroslav Klose. A more sobering thought is the memory of Germany's 4-0 win over Australia and 1-0 win over Ghana both of which were convincing and demonstrated that Germany are very dangerous.

Their coaching team, the two most senior of which seem to insist upon wearing 'trendy' matching outfits, is not as prestigious as in the past. No national heroes like Klinsmann or Beckenbauer this time, instead the job is held by the previously little known Joachim Loew. He had a very modest career as a player but seems to have forged himself an impressive career as a manager. Working his way up through German and Austrian teams, he earned himself a job as assistant manager of the national side in 2004. After Klinsmann grabbed the third place spot in 2004, Loew became the manager and in the 2008 European Championships, he was able to guide his team to the final. So far he has been able to craft this, the youngest German side since 1934, into a formidable outfit. So who are their key players?

For me the most dangerous man, and most probable to be a future star, is Mesut Oezil. The attacking midfielder has looked very impressive so far and if he continues to be a similar force throughout the latter stages of the tournament and against bigger opposition, I wouldn't be surprised if some premiership teams had a look at bringing him to England. Other names, probably more familiar to many fans, are Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski. Klose will be back from suspension against England and, despite his age, will need to be closely watched by the likes of Terry and Carragher. Podolski, who is yet to really take off in this tournament, will be dangerous especially if he plays on the left and faces Glenn Johnson whose pace is somewhat less than Podolski's. The ever present and ever threatening Bastian Schweinsteiger will undoubtedly cause problems and whether or not he starts, Sami Khedira's pace could also cause England's defence difficulties.

Personally, I can't see England being able to cope with Podolski if he is on form and the pace of the German team in general. For that reason the defence will probably have to play quite deep which of course has repercussions elsewhere on the field. Barry will have to play slightly deeper as well but if he can use his playmaking skills to their fullest then this won't necessarily be a bad place for him to play. Arguably the most important thing for England to do is keep the ball and play patiently across the back. It would be a bad move for them to, as Beckenbauer has said, to revert back to 'kick and rush' football. Play it slowly and patiently and one or two goals may be enough. Let's hope that Cole can keep up his reasonably good form up to date and let's hope even more that Rooney is able to find his form for his contribution will be key if England are to have any chance of winning this World Cup.

World Cup 2010 - The Story So Far

Well with the group stage of the world cup coming to an end, it seemed like a good time to start this blog up as a place to air my views on the many sporting events taking place throughout the world. I know more about some sports than others but I will do my best to cover as many different sports as possible especially if it a large event followed by many people. I doubt many will read this but if you are one of the lucky ones I hope you enjoy it and find the time to agree or disagree with what I have to say.

Round one of the 2010 world cup is nearly at an end and whilst we don’t know all the teams through to the last 16 it is, none the less, a good point to review the teams so far. Firstly, the inevitable demise of the French under Raymond Domenech. There are few who can understand why he was allowed to continue as team coach after the French lost the final in Berlin in 2006, especially considering the many rumours claiming that Domenech had lost control of the dressing room and was a mere bystander as Zidane picked the teams and gave the talks. It was almost inevitable then that they would struggle this world cup and that they have, I advised a friend to place a small bet on South Africa to beat France after the news of the French strike came through in protest after Nikolas Anelka was deported back home for swearing at Domenech. He said he wouldn’t risk thinking that their recent tiff would bind them closer together.

The loss to a spirited South Africa made the French look pathtic and Domenech’s refusal to shake Parreira’s hand after the game maybe gave us a clue as to why he struggled to get on with so many of the players. In the end it is probably karma. The Irish will I’m sure be cheering as the French plane leaves Johannesburg as it was Henry’s blatant handball that sent the Irish very cruelly out. As I am writing this I am sure the whole of Paris is glistening with guillotine blades waiting for Domenech’s heads. The most senior person to be doing this is Sarkozy, who has apparently ordered a probe into the failure.

Other things have been happening in South Africa. By far and away the most successful continent in this year’s tournament has been South America whose teams have lost very few games and conceded very few goals. The Argentineans have looked very threatening and aggressive going forward, qualifying as they did with all 9 points. Unfortunately for them though, they remain exposed at the back and may struggle a little more when they have to play more serious opposition but, for the mean time they are safe. Their eccentric ego of a coach Diego Maradona has promised to run through the streets with his ‘tackle’ (football related pun) out if Argentina wins the tournament. Whilst I don’t usually swing that way that is something that I would like to see. They play Mexico in the next round and I fancy Argentina to get a result there, maybe it won’t be as easy as many are expecting but a win. When they come up against the stronger teams it may end up being a question of them saying “if you score four, we’ll score five”.

Brazil has been the most convincing of all the teams so far. They look solid in all areas of the pitch and are playing very fine football. My money is with them to win it but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t be beaten. If North Korea were able to score against them and restrict them to only two goals, then I am sure others will be able to threaten them further. The others have all looked impressive to. Uruguay put in a very convincing performance against South Africa and managed to beat Mexico fresh off the back of their 2-0 victory over France.

Chile have also looked good and have played really fast entertaining football with their nippy right-winger Alexis Sanchez leading the way. Finally Paraguay have earned themselves a reputation. Whilst generally considered to be the weakest of the South American teams, Paraguay have looked good holding Italy to a draw and beating Slovakia 2-0. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these smaller South American teams sends one of the top European teams out of the competition.

In England most people are of course talking about their own national team. Capello’s men squeezed into the next round after a 1-0 win over Slovenia which I felt was barely a reason to be excited. Whilst there were spells of very good football from England it only lasted for 75 minutes. If England still have a lot of work to do because if they play like that against the better teams then they will be home sooner than anyone would like them to be.

Other teams in contention for the ultimate prize are Spain, whose faulty start against Spain was made a thing of the past after their 2-0 win against Honduras. The Netherlands have won both their games so far and already qualified but they haven’t looked anywhere near as good as the side that played so well in the 2008 European championships. The Germans, who started so well by thrashing Australia 4-0, then faltered and lost to Serbia who have themselves been a bit of a mixed bag. Portugal have been the most impressive European side after their very professional 7-0 win over North Korea, a game which I am sure wasn’t broadcast back in the Democratic People’s Republic. I wouldn’t be surprised however, if Serbia, who look to have found their stride, surprise a few complacent defenders.

So the next round awaits us. The English will be watching the games this evening to see who they will play on Sunday. It could be either Germany, Serbia, Ghana or, although highly unlikely, Australia. I can’t see Brazil losing in this world cup but I think they will face some very tough opposition on the way.