England opens campaign with a Win.....

England played thier first WC match today against Paraguay. I had to wake up at 5:30 am to catch the match live. Now there arent many things that would make me wake up that early on a saturday or for that matter stay up late a night. But a Football match (that too with England in it), is worth all the effort :)). Being an England supporter it was a good result for us. We Won. But I would be the first to point out that this definetly wasn't a good performance by the team. They didn't gel together and were playing nervous at times. England definetly needs to play much better if they have to live upto the hopes of a football crazy nation and those of many others around the world. They looked content with the 1 goal lead and didn't push for the second one. At times it felt as if no one wanted to have the ball. The forward line for England doesn't look too promising. Crouch definetly isn't the answer. Also one player who needs to pull up is Ashley Cole, he made a lot of mistakes, which went unpunished against a not so skillful Paraguay side, but won't be the case against better opposition.

But not everything was negative for England... remember they did WIN. Joe Cole had a good game and showed why he is one of the looked out for upcoming attacking midfielder. Lampard got a a few good looks at the goal and was only denied by some good saves by the keeper. And Once again Beckham showed the world why he is the best crosser in the world (but he needs to get more involved, he was a non-factor in the second half). The biggest positive for England was that inspite of not performing well they still managed to squeeze a win, signs of a good team. Hopefully they only get better from here and with Rooney back soon would have a very realistic chance of going for the Cup.

Some Facts about the Match:

The 4th minute Goal was the second fastest for England in World Cup History.
The 8th minute taking off of the Goal Keeper was the fastest in World Cup History.
This is the first match in World Cup History with a 1-0 margin that was decided by an own goal.

Keep Cheering for England !!!

And yes before I forget.. Justine Henin Hardine won her 3rd French Open title today :) and I have an NBA Finals game 2 to catch tonight. Hoping the Dallas Mavs make it 2-0. The weekend so far has been good I hope it continues the same way :).