10 Reasons England could win the World Cup…

OVER-REACTION EXCITEMENT HYPERBOLE LOUD NOISES. That seems to be the general feeling after England’s fantastic win over Croatia. Taking a step back though, and not because of one performance, Capello is building a competent England side who can (it seems) compete at the highest level. Here are 10 reasons why they could triumph in South Africa – we’re not saying they will, but they could…

1. Fabio Capello. The single most important factor in England’s rise. A Croatian journalist whose name I didn’t catch said Capello has stopped England playing like England, which summarises perfectly. Gone has the fear, the indiscipline, and the indecision, replaced with organisation, discipline, and tactical nous.
2. The weather. This is the first World Cup in many a year that will be held in temperate conditions – with frequent rain. That will suit England down to the ground – they struggle (understandably) in humid climes. This doesn’t fit with their performances in the Euros but we’ll ignore that amongst the excitement.
3. Attacking full backs. Whatever you say about Glen Johnson’s defending, he is fantastic going forward – he set up another goal last night. England are the top-scorers in World Cup qualifying and though the lack of clean sheets are a concern, you can’t have everything. And we have Ashley Cole who, although a thoroughly abhorrent human being, is a great full back.
4. Wayne Rooney. One of England’s few genuine world class performers, he is the top scoring individual in qualifying. His goalscoring touch will be essential in South Africa.
5. Gerrard and Lampard. Capello has seen the folly trying to pair them in centre-midfield, and Gerrard drifting left seems to be working for him and allows Lampard to bomb forward. Gerrard can also be used as protection for Glen Johnson, if necessary.
6. Rob Green. He looked secure last night, and Croatia scored despite his fantastic save from the first header. A reliable goalkeeper is essential for success and Green now has a great chance to concrete his place.
7. Other teams. Brazil are always a threat. Spain are a superb side. But other traditional international behemoths – Italy, France, Argentina, and to some extent Germany – are struggling. England could legitimately claim to be third favourites.
8. Constant underachievement. Year after year we build our hopes up only to be knocked down – there seems a sense of caution this time around, perspective amongst the fans, the press, and more importantly the players. We’ve learnt the folly of arrogance and false expectation. Hopefully.
9. Aaron Lennon. As we have written before, him, Theo Walcott, and SWP all suffer from inconsistency in delivery and performance – moments of threatening brilliance allied with abject anonymity and terrible final product. However, this season Lennon has given consistency to his sporadic threat – if he can maintain that, we will have a huge weapon.
10. Emile Heskey and Jermaine Defoe. Two very different players, two hugely contrasting threats, two great options. Invaluable when England are struggling for inspiration. If only Heskey could score…

So there we are. We probably won’t win it, we will probably go there with a fanfare of expectation and leave empty handed, our hugely talented player will probably let us down. Probably. But not definitely…