Match day Sven review

Ah, that was totally unintentional, I promise! But having made that typo, I couldn't go back and correct it.

Would they have fired Sven mid-cup if Trinidad had kept it scoreless (or if John Terry hadn't made that desperate goalline clearance from Stern John)? Hard to say. But goals from Crouch and Gerrard made sure that England beat the Soca Warriors to go through to the second phase. Egad, were they ever dire for most of the game though. The putatively world class midfield of Gerrard, Beckham, Cole and Lampard seemed flummoxed by a organized defense, and it was only after Rooney and Lennon came in that they made any progress.

Rooney actually looked pretty good, especially considering how unfit he must be. There was one dangerous moment only a minute after entering where he seemed to get trodden on... you could feel a whole nation cringe.

So even though England have looked god-awful in their two games against not-so-great opponents, they are through to the knock-out phase, and will win the group with a draw or better against Sweden. Fortunately for England, Sweden have also been god-awful. Just when you thought they would be the new France and go the whole Cup without scoring, they finally popped one in against Paraguay. (By the way, the new France is... uh... France.) It was like the relief you feel when you finally pass a gallstone; you'd have been mistaken in thinking they had won the World Cup when Ljungberg finally scored.

You know, Trinidad has a not inconsiderable chance of getting out of this group. Consider: England will want to produce a more emphatic performance against a quality team to give them confidence going forward. Trinidad will be playing a beaten Paraguay. And they have nothing to lose; they've already achieved their goal of producing a respectable Cup performance and have made their country proud. My bet is that Benhaaker allows Yorke and The White Guy the freedom to get into more advance positions against Paraguay. With Glen starting alongside John from the start, and Edwards back in midfield... yeah, they could totally do it. Go Trinidad!


Wouldn't a Trinidad-Ecuador round of 16 match just be a little slice of heaven? I thought the Ticos would really attack Ecuador today, and although they did, they just weren't very good at it. Ecuador (do they have a nickname?) are doing the simple things very well: they're staying organized, making themselves available for passes and generating chances. And Edison Mendez has been excellent, involved in everything attacking play Ecuador has produced.

The Ivan Kaviedes Spider-Man mask celebration: 1/4 funny, 3/4 extremely oogy. I mean he pulled it out of his shorts....

Farewell Poland! Farewell Paraguay! Farewell Costa Rica, with your coach who looks just like Harry Dean Stanton!