Paddy was cheered by the French capitulation against South Africa – but he reckons another of our auld enemies will lift themselves enough to win on Wednesday.
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I’d be lying if I said I didn’t give a little cheer when South Africa scored both their goals. France, even if they hadn’t committed a greater fraud than Charles Ponzi to get to South Africa, deserve to be going home. They were a shambles from the start and achieved little other than to have an embarrassing public washing of their especially tattered pantaloons in front of the entire world.
Sorry about that. I’ll remove that chip from my shoulder and move on. It was good to see South Africa at least get a win but they can’t count themselves unlucky not to be progressing. The surefire draw didn’t come to pass as Uruguay battled for the win, topping the group and avoiding Argentina. Mexico won’t be easy opposition and they’ll do more to test the dodgy DeMichelis than the dreadfully unadventurous Greece. Argentina never moved beyond third gear to maintain their 100% record. Tougher tests lie ahead and though they’ve shortened in the outright market, I still need a little convincing.
Despite the condescending tone used by certain pundits on a certain British broadcasting channel, South Korea deserve to be in the second round and they won’t be a pushover for Uruguay. Asian football is on the rise.
So it’s all down to this? A win over Slovenia and England’s heroes are rising from the ashes, Capello photoshopped into a knight’s costume adorned with a St George cross on the back page of the tabloids. Lose and they’ve destroyed the dreams of an entire nation, letting down the fans, the 1966 winners, Winston Churchill and King Arthur. It’s only a game lads. Relax. There’s no explanation for how poorly England have performed so far but Slovenia are such a limited side that a little more bite in the tackle and some quicker passing and Capello’s side will win. It may not be pretty but I think they’ll lift themselves enough to win. Slovenia are 7/1 if you think they’re going to flop again.
Algeria looked good against England but they’re not really. The USA are rightly favourites, having that extra bit of guile going forward and I’ve fancied them to qualify from the off. I don’t think they’ll disappoint at 10/11 to win. Algeria can go through with a win themselves so this should be a spicy encounter. Over 2.5 goals is 11/10.
If organisation is the undoing of the African sides then Germany will book their place in the second round. If they can regroup after the loss to Serbia, Germany should just be a little too clever for Ghana.
Australia will be hoping I’m wrong though because they need Germany to lose. A win over Serbia and the side embarrassed by Germany in their opener could still qualify. My not very reliable crystal ball tells me they’ll do well to get a draw at 11/4. If the Serbian players are on form then they can tear Australia apart, if not, then who knows?
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