So England are out.

Even if you’ve only had the most cursory glance at the football over the past few weeks you’re sure to have heard about England’s defeat to Germany.

Now, most football fans I know out there have either given up or started supporting their next favourite nation. But the real question is, if you’re not half English and half something else, who is there to support as a full-blooded Englishman?

Well, if you can take the pain Germany is the natural choice, as we share quite a bit of our gene pool with them, since we’re all from the same Anglo-Saxon descent. But I have a feeling anyone watching that savage defeat isn’t quite ready to switch support from Rooney to Klose, though they both get red  cards (how could anyone ever forget Rooney’s temper?) and score goals (well, not yet for Rooney, but there’s always next world cup!)

We certainly can’t support their opposition, the Brazilians, out of anything more than a love of their skill, and ability to move the ball. The same, unfortunately is true for the Argentina team, the Netherlands and Uruguay. Paraguay have yet to prove themselves, but as brits we have no link to them.

That leaves us with Spain and Ghana. Spain are the old enemy, whom we constantly fought in the 16^th and 17^th century, and even later, thanks to Queen Liz, and Sir Francis Drake.

So Ghana is the only team we have left. Ghana might seem like a strange choice because they’re an African team, not even from Europe, and they’re members of La Francophonie, so they can’t have anything to do with us, can they?

Well, yes, actually. From the 16^th and 17^th century England has had colonies in Ghana, and it was even a protectorate of the crown between 1874 and 1957.

Many of their players play in the premiership, including their vice-captain and keeper, Richard Kingson, who plays for Wigan Athletic. John Pansil, a defender, plays for Fulham, and Kevin-Prince Boateng, who has impressed so far at this tournament, plays his club football at Portsmouth. Essien, our Chelsea superstar, belongs in the squad, but has been kept out by injury. If you’re an avid Chelsea fan, you might be contented with a player from the Ghanaian tribute team, Bechem Chelsea, whose kit are inspired by Chelsea, and for whom Lee Addy, a 19 year old, capped 14 times for Ghana, plays.

Anyone supporting Ghana, it seems, will be in good company, as the hopes of the entire African Continent are now pinned on them. Good luck Ghana!

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The England camp has been subjected to much controversy lately, yet the critics seem now to have been hushed thanks to Defoe’s goal against Slovenia, giving the team the victory required for them to progress to the knock-out stages. The fear of complete failure is over for both Capello and the team, but how far will England actually progress?

Their next opponents are the much-loved Germans. The deep-rooted rivalry between the two countries promises to deliver plenty more juicy punchlines for the press. Germany are a formidable side – albeit slightly unpredictable in their results. Despite having lost their second match, they came away seemingly unaffected and got the job done against Ghana to qualify. Always a potent side in tournaments, Germany are always contenders to walk away with any competition cup, although they aren’t favourites for this year’s World Cup. There seems to be a certain flair lacking from the team: like a VW Golf, they are reliable but not particularly flamboyant.

This aforementioned lack of creativity may prove key to their undoing. They sometimes lack that spark to save themselves, which England however have demonstrated in the Slovenia match. Unfortunately, whilst they didn’t score again, they had plenty of opportunity and play certainly looked promising. There was a passion evoked from the players after the goal and one would hope that the momentum of such a victory will give them the enthusiasm and drive to continue in a similar fashion. After all, a little inspiration can go a long way, especially against a team such as Germany, who appear to just drill out results.

However, that strong, German reputation of getting results could intimidate the England squad. They may be unwilling to take risks and chances on the assumption that Germany will still conquer them, which is a key danger. We have previously seen Capello’s apprehension for change which ultimately led to the draw with Algeria. Will he stick with Defoe or revert back to Heskey? Hopefully not the latter as we have seen how ineffective it is in comparison with the former. Although you lose the height by picking Defoe, you gain pace and a real desire to dodge in and out of defenders. Germany’s defenders did show weaknesses in their performance against Ghana with blunders which Defoe could certainly exploit. UPDATE : Defoe will be in the side.

England have the added advantage of crucial German injuries to the likes of Schweinsteiger, Ozil and Boateng, which could lift England’s chances and has already rattled German coach Joachim Low. What is certain is that he is not taking England lightly, despite their inconsistency and has stated that he believes that England will be ‘incredibly dangerous’ due to the likes of Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney, although the latter has not found that infamous goal-scoring run which makes him one of the most feared strikers in football.

Sunday’s match promises to be one of real excitement due to the unpredictability of both teams entering the tie. I wouldn’t like to give a definitive verdict on who I believe will win, but England do look like they have a real chance, especially if they live off the momentum and take advantage of Wednesday’s victory. Although we probably wouldn’t like to see it, this match could potentially go into penalties as it seems that there is little to separate the sides, although England may well have the upper hand as they have proven that they have finally settled into the swing of the World Cup.

by Jaz Sansoye

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Team Profile: Gemany

Over the course of the World Cup I shall try to collect team profiles of teams that seem to have struck a chord, highlighting their key player in attack, midfield and goal. After their 4-0 demolition of Australia, I believe Germany have been deemed worthy to be put under the microscope first…

Goal Keeper:Neuer Team:Shalke 04 Age: 24

Neuer isn’t admittedly Germany’s top-choice keeper, and to no level a goalkeeping superstar in comparison to the likes of Cassilas and Buffon.After the tragic suicide of Germany’s top choice ofkeeper Robert Enke and a rib injury to Rene Adler the Germans now rely on Neuer to keep their goalmouth safe. Neuer is however a safe pair of hands, and I believe unlikely to commit the sort of horrific mistake that Robert Green did in his first, as he has had experience of playing in the Bundesliga since 2005 for Shalke and even won the award for best goalkeeper in 2007.

Defense: Lahm Club: Bayern Munich Age:26
Philip Lahm has been chosen as the captain of Germany after Michael Ballack’s ankle injury. In the Australia match he proved to be a valuable player, as a solid defender, as seen in Australia’s first serious chance against Germany, and also an attacking force, as shown in his assist to Klose’s goal. He has filled the gap left by Ballack as a leader well and has experience, from Fifa 2006 and Euro 2008 that many of the younger players on the team don’t have.

Midfield: Ozil Club: Werder Bremen Age:21
Mesut Ozil was my Man of the Match in the Australia game, and Man of the Match for many other pundits and spectators alike. His passing was key to Germany’s attacking play, and he is an important playmaker in the German team. This tournament he has the potential to be one of the players who makes the tournament, especially as before this World Cup he was unheard of in the UK. His passing and attacking vision makes him a bastion upon which the German midfield can be based, and he is crucial to the progression of the German team throughout the tournament, especially without Michael Ballack.

Attack: Podolski Club: Bayern Munich Age:25
It was a tough decision whether to talk about Klose or Podolski, as both attackers have scored numerous goals for Germany. However, I decided to talk about Podolski as Klose has been off-form in the run-up to the tournament and apart from his excellent header in the game he missed quite a few sitters, showing a lack of confidence in front of goal slightly like Emile Heskey’s. Podolski has 39 international goals to his name, the Best Young Player Award of the World Cup 2006 and featured in UEFA’s Best Team of the Tournament in 2008. Along with his traditional role as a striker, Podolski has played on the Left Wing and is a versatile asset to the German team. When it comes to international tournaments Pdolski had been exceptional and will hopefully further enlighten us this World Cup

Overall: Under the management of Joachim Loew the German team has been pit down as underdogs in the books of many football pundits, especially without Michael Ballack. However, in their first match of the tournament they showed they do have potential to get far in this world cup. In my view they are on the easy side of the draw, and they won’t be pitted against Spain or Brazil until the Final itself. The best team they could encounter on the way would be England or Argentina. Their possible route to the final, therefore, and their clinical attacking play, coupled with a relatively solid defense, means they are indeed still a force to be reckoned with…

Odds To Win (Before World Cup): 14/1
My Reckoning: Semi-Final

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These words have been bandied about recently by members of parties from all sides. Labour in particular has taken up the torch, pushing truly to warn against the damage the austerity package could do. They simply refer to the looming threat of a second period in which the economy recedes.

The evidence that this is not likely to take place lies in a spread of areas: firstly, both the conservatives and liberal democrats believe that this will not be the outcome, secondly, the aftershocks of the recession, such as the bailout of a regional bank in Spain (CajaSur), are simply that, aftershocks. A third point of discussion argues that there is no likelihood of us ever defaulting, and so simply no need for the markets to go into freefall. Others might argue that as the market is a prediction device, rather than a reactor to current events these things will not affect it.

Political forces like Vince Cable, and similarly trusted politicians, may however, be able to encourage people to spend regardless and at least not to worry, though how effective this may be remains to be seen. It is difficult to evaluate the worth of this side of the argument, as the state of our economy is so precarious, and the papers do little to advocate the worth of such measures.

However the evidence for the contrary is perhaps more persuasive. It rests on a number of factors ; The recent bailout of the aforementioned Spanish bank, which comes amidst rising turbulence in the European Union, which includes Angela Merkel’s weakening support in Germany, France’s threat to leave the Euro (which would have truly catastrophic affects for everyone), and the Greek bailout. Not to mention that new worries have been extended on the subject of Spain’s economic situation by the IMF. All of these weaken their respective exchange rate, and as members of the European Union ourselves are likely to lead to bigger payments from us, and certainly a decline in investor confidence here and abroad. Combine this with escalating tensions in North Korea, as they sever ties from South Korea, which has destroyed investor confidence in both countries, as fear of a war looms.

Accompanying this, the sheer scale of debt : 893 billion pounds in Britain alone, and over 10 trillion in America, is horrifying.

Couple this with forthcoming austerity measures from George Osbourne which are likely to induce people to save money out of fear for their jobs and further cuts which may lead to them needing to say transfer their child to private school, or not go on holiday all of which remove money from the economy. He, disliked by many, will find it difficult to sell his cuts, particularly as the 6 billion only just announced have cut money from almost every budget and still found only that sum.

Unfortunately, it is exactly words like austerity that encourage people to save rather than to spend, and considering the pathetic growth rate of the United Kingdom’s economy, 0.3% in Q10, it would be only too easy to return to recession.

What do you think? Comment Below

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It’s interesting to see that this year’s Champions League finalists are both aiming for a treble: Both Inter and B.Munich have won their leagues and their cups. So who is going to win the Treble, where a team collects a bag of three trophies (League, domestic cup and the ‘Big Ear’), to end the season on a good note?

Personally, I would prefer Inter to win. They’ve got a fabulous midfield and some quality versatile players, like Goran Pandev, who allow Mourinho to show off his tactical abilities. Some football fans might criticise their completely anti-football (I usually disagree with this idea of Wenger’s anti-footballism) approach to the game against Barcelona in the semi-finals, but although the fans might have been disappointed and bored with the way Inter did the job, it was more surprising and rather exciting to see Mourinho’s unexpected ultra-defensive tactics. It provided an alternate form of fun for some football critics, like myself. Anyhow, Inter Milan have had a great season so far, and are eyeing up their first European Cup since 1998 (They won the UEFA Cup in that year.)

Bayern Munich are definitely not just push-overs. Yes, they had lots of fortunate wins on the way to the Final (I still haven’t forgiven them for scraping past Man U) but I still rate them as one of the best clubs in the world. The wing power of the German giants is unbelievable. The ‘Robery’ combo (n.b Frank Ribéry is suspended for the Final) is one of the most destructive duos I’ve ever seen, and there are other back-up wingers like Bastian Schweinsteiger. They are also the fourth most successful club in the history of European football, lifting the cup on four occasions.

Another amusing aspect of this match is that Mourinho was once a ‘student’ of Louis Van Gaal, the Bayern manager. They had worked together before at Barcelona before Mourinho moving to Porto and unleashing his talents. The irony is that Jose has beaten Barcelona, his team as a rookie once upon a time, in the semi-finals and now faces his former boss in the Finals.

This Final is meaningful for both teams, as they now have the chance to achieve a Treble which has only been accomplished five times in Europe. At the same time, on a bigger scale, it is a fight between Italy and Germany to decide the European League rankings. Germany has been chasing Italy to a very close point now, and Inter are the only hope for Italy to defend their four Champions League wins. So, there are the basic facts. Now it’s up to the teams themselves to decide the winner. It may seem like another final which comes every year; but the fact that there will be a glorious outcome, whoever wins, makes this final more special than others before. So will it be Inter? Or will it be Munich?

by Ricky Won

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