When Will England Self-Destruct?

[Teacher Mark 53]

Hopefully it happens Saturday.

It was just a short walk back to my London hotel, but I was reeling. I'd spent enough time in England to get attached to its soccer team, and the boys had just taken a heartbreaking loss to Argentina at the 1998 World Cup.

As must always be the case with England, this was no ordinary, easily explainable defeat. David Beckham had been sent off for mindlessly kicking an opponent in full view of the referee. It went into a penalty-kick shootout, and a horrid miss by David Batty sealed England's fate.

As I staggered out of the Stanhope Arms, my lager buzz dulled by devastation, I saw a great number of Battys on the street, broken men with their head in their hands. They cursed Batty, felt for him, became him, and there would be no answers for another four years.

As you ponder the United States' chances against England in Saturday's first-round World Cup match in South Africa, it's wise to acknowledge that whenever the Three Lions take the field, a nation is gripped by fear. Sometimes the fans put it best, such as a reader who signed on to the Times of London's Web site and wrote, "We're becoming a nation of cackling hags, waiting for the next victim at the guillotine."

I'm saying England wins Saturday 3-1, but remember the distinct vulnerability that surrounds this team, in a number of categories:

The coach: In the wake of some fractious, loosely organized England teams, highly successful Italian coach Fabio Capello was hired to take over. Capello won eight Italian League titles with four different clubs, and he's a taskmaster. His fiery temper was on display just two days ago, when he unleashed a vicious tirade against a group of London-based photographers over their set-up locations at training camp.

Capello has brought with him the notoriously cautious Italian style (it works; it's just maddening to watch sometimes), and former Dutch star Johan Cruyff has declared it "a curious situation in England. The mentality has changed, and they are interested only in the result. England needs a great spectacle, but that is impossible with Capello as coach."

The women: That's right, the WAGS - wives and girlfriends. This is actually a very hot issue during any big event involving England. Blatantly fashionable, ridiculously well-off and not at all bashful about making an utter spectacle of themselves, the WAGS created a major distraction in Germany during the 2006 World Cup. Capello has instituted a significant WAGS crackdown, but given the roguish nature of several English players, look for some major bending of the rules.

The villain: John Terry, an able midfielder, has quite a personal history. On the day after the 9/11 attacks, Terry and a group of Chelsea players offended a party of grieving American tourists at a London hotel with their lewd and drunken antics. The following year, he was seen urinating in a beer glass at a nightclub. The tabloids have exposed his repeated acts of adultery (he's a married father of two), and one such indiscretion threatened to tear apart the team.

The hothead: One look at Wayne Rooney's face, and you know he's a scrapper. He grew up on the tough streets of Liverpool, surrounded by trouble and a family of amateur boxers. Mix some absolute magic into that temperament - the lightning-quick feet and scoring ability that puts him in the company of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba among the best strikers in the world - and you have a formidable package.

Rooney has been on his best behavior in the most important matches over the past two years, but everyone remembers his pointless send-off against Portugal in the '06 World Cup - and the Americans have announced their intention to get under his skin. "You have to use everything to your advantage," said former U.S. player Alexi Lalas. "I hope he has a temper tantrum, takes a swing at someone and gets thrown out. I would love to see him act like a baby."

I can't imagine Rooney sinking to that level, against the U.S. or anyone else, this time around.

The goalkeeper: The U.S. team has a clear edge here in Premier League-seasoned Tim Howard, and even though Capello said Thursday he knows his starting lineup, he still wouldn't publicly commit to David James or Robert Green (the third option, Joe Hart, is a longshot). Untold legions of fans remain convinced that any choice will be the wrong one.

The penalty kicks: In regulation play, Frank Lampard is the man. He has drilled one forthright winner after another in a Chelsea uniform over the years, but even the great ones come up empty at times, and Lampard fired wide at a crucial stage of the recent FA Cup final against Portsmouth.

If England's Cup comes down to a shootout, the tension will be excruciating. England has been knocked out of five major tournaments on penalties over the past 20 years (such names as Batty, Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle come immediately to mind).

"I think it has become a bit of an issue in the mind," said Lampard, who missed a penalty in the '06 World Cup shootout against Portugal. "No matter how well we have played in a match, when it comes down to penalties, you think, 'Oh, s-, here we go again.' "

Here comes another World Cup, and there go the English again - at their peril. Many will watch in earnest, at the pubs. Others will be hiding behind the couch.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/11/SPLV1DTDIV.DTL

[Peikko 1,575]

, that's about right.

ObviouslyI don't really want them to self-destruct in the first match

[BishopM 114]

FIFA World Cup is an incredible global world event. I never really realized how 'huge' it is until I was living in Korea during the 2006 World Cup. I was living in a city of about 150,000 people and the games were shown on the trinitron at the local university soccer field. The ENTIRE TOWN would come downtown to the stadium to watch the games on the the trinitron...and stay all night. They'd come staggering into work the next morning after about an hour's sleep. It was great.

I hope that America makes a good show and of course I'll also be cheering for South Korea again

[Teacher Mark 53]

Edited June 11, 2010 by Mr. Saigon

[Pooky 3,844]

Kick-off is at 19:30.

Rumour has it that the USA will miss the start, turn up at 19:41, then claim that any victory was because of them being there.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Kick-off is at 19:30.

Rumour has it that the USA will miss the start, turn up at 19:41, then claim that any victory was because of them being there.

+1

[Teacher Mark 53]

[Teacher Mark 53]

TOUCHDOWN!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

TOUCHDOWN!

[Pooky 3,844]

Apparently, about 5 minutes before half time.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

England are masters of the 1:1 draw

[Teacher Mark 53]

That's it?????

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

England are masters of the 1:1 draw

Ugh. That was painful. My support of England is the triumph of hope over experience. Truly I must be a masochist.

[TheMatrix 6]

Excellent defensive performance by the US in the second half. Bring on Slovenia!

As for Steve McManaman's prediction of 3-1 to England, ha ha ha ha ha....

[Pooky 3,844]

Excellent defensive performance by the US in the second half. Bring on Slovenia!

As for Steve McManaman's prediction of 3-1 to England, ha ha ha ha ha....

You listen to Steve McManamanamanamanamanamanamanamanaman?