Group C - England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia

[James]

Discussion around Group C involving England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Schedule

12 June 2010

England v United States at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

13 June 2010

Algeria v Slovenia at Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane

18 June 2010

Slovenia v United States at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
England v Algeria at Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town

23 June 2010

Slovenia v England at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
United States v Algeria at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria

 

[GIMH]

England
Algeria
Slovenia
Yanks

(shameless ripping off a Sun cover but it's WC time which means the arrogance needs stepping up )

 

[Furball]

Algeria will shock England 1-0, Majid Bougherra will keep Rooney quiet before getting bored and scoring a solo goal of his own.

Supporting Algeria and the USA in this group, due to the presence of Boogie, Maurice Edu and DaMarcus Beasley.

 

[BoyBrumby]

If we don't go through we want to give it up, tbh.

Actually our record of qualifying for the next stage is very good; haven't failed to make it (when we've qualified) since 1958.

Expecting America to advance with us and could actually see them nicking a draw; have some good pros in their team.

 

[Burgey]

If we don't go through we want to give it up, tbh.

Actually our record of qualifying for the next stage is very good; haven't failed to make it (when we've qualified) since 1958.

Expecting America to advance with us and could actually see them nicking a draw; have some good pros in their team.

Yeah, you got the group of life, no doubt about that.

 

[Steulen]

The normal England scenario would be to play three horrible group games, a godawful second round and then go out 1-0 in a quarter final full of drama, with Rooney sent off for being an oaf.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Should win the group but how much further they get is up for discussion.We have no chance of winning it though as Brazil and Spain are in a different league to us.

No doubt the press will hype it up again only for Gerrard and Lampard to go missing when it matters in an England shirt.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Cowardly thug is just hugely over-rated, he doesn't under-perform so much as he's not half as good as he's made out to be in the first place.

 

[wpdavid]

Should win the group but how much further they get is up for discussion.We have no chance of winning it though as Brazil and Spain are in a different league to us.

No doubt the press will hype it up again only for Gerrard and Lampard to go missing when it matters in an England shirt.

In all probability.

I reckon it's come around 12 months too late for us. Not that I ever fancied us beating Spain or Brazil, but we were looking better last year. Since then, Ferdinand's looking even more accident prone than previously, Terry's looking too old, Cashley & Lennon are out, Gerrard's in decline, ditto Carrick. Plus Johnson's still a liability in defence and we still have no idea who should partner Rooney. And, contrary to what we're told, Wazza is not remotedly in the same league as Messi & Ronaldo.

 

[Jarquis]

Haha. BBC 3

 

[slippyslip]

Wazza is not remotedly in the same league as Messi & Ronaldo.

And what have Messi or Ronaldo done for Argentine or Portugal lately? Infact, what has Messi ever done at international level?

Messi - the Graeme Hick of football?


(I kid I kid)

 

[Furball]

And what have Messi or Ronaldo done for Argentine or Portugal lately? Infact, what has Messi ever done at international level?

Messi - the Graeme Hick of football?


(I kid I kid)

Way to ignore the fact that Messi was 18 and not a regular starter last time there was a World Cup. Had a pretty good Copa America last time iirc, until Argentina had their customary choke to Brazil.

Ronaldo has participated in runs to the Euro 2004 final and semis of the 2006 World Cup. Not a bad pedigree for a guy who's only 25.

 

[silentstriker]

The US will annihilate this group.

 

[GIMH]

Way to ignore the fact that Messi was 18 and not a regular starter last time there was a World Cup. Had a pretty good Copa America last time iirc, until Argentina had their customary choke to Brazil.

Ronaldo has participated in runs to the Euro 2004 final and semis of the 2006 World Cup. Not a bad pedigree for a guy who's only 25.

The Argentina fans disagree tbh

 

[Uppercut]

He's 22 tbf. Give the little dude a chance.

 

[GIMH]

No, nobody is saying he's rap. But he's disappointed for yer Argies so far. His age doesn't really come into it, he's come nowhere near close to living up to his club performances. Certainly not an accusation you could make about Rooney, whose performances for England were much better than his Everton appearances back around 04.

 

[Uppercut]

I just think he's been around for so little time it's not really a fair accusation. He was stuck on the bench recovering from an injury for pretty much all of the last World Cup and he was pretty good in his only Copa America iirc (but even then, he was only 19 at the time). Has he been crap in the qualifiers or something?

 

[GIMH]

I don't profess to be an expert. had a night out with a group of Argentinians in March, their words were, "he's great for Barca and **** for us, **** him." Apparently this is a fairly common feeling in Argentina, although I'm sure they've all got their fingers crossed he replicates his Barca form in a couple of weeks.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Take it to the Argies' group thread, fellas. You're stinking the place out.

Algeria look wonderfully toliet, meanwhile.

 

[Furball]

I don't profess to be an expert. had a night out with a group of Argentinians in March, their words were, "he's great for Barca and **** for us, **** him." Apparently this is a fairly common feeling in Argentina, although I'm sure they've all got their fingers crossed he replicates his Barca form in a couple of weeks.

Bear in mind that for a home qualifier South American players based in Europe have to fly halfway back across the world, acclimatise to a completely different time zone and climate and play 90 minutes of football with unfamiliar team-mates in an unfamiliar system in the space of 2-3 days. Hardly ideal conditions to be replicating any form you've shown for your club.

If factors like that didn't matter then you wouldn't get training camps at altitude in Austria and pre-tournament friendlies for the players to find some form and cohesion - everyone would just rock up in South Africa the day before their first game.