Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
They are the Maple Leafs of World Soccer. No titles since the mid-1960s, but with all the outrageous hype.
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Except for the fact that virtually no England supporters outside of those who write for one of the rag papers actually talk or act as if England is going to win the whole thing. England fans are pretty much as pessimistic as it gets. I was living in London in 2002 and even when they went ahead against Brazil everyone was just waiting for it to fall apart.
That said, if they win their group they could make some noise. A round of 16 match against Serbia wouldn't be a gimme, especially if Rooney doesn't do something magical. If they were to survive that they'd likely face France, and who knows what will come from Les Bleus. A semi with Brazil would then loom, and while I would expect Brazil to win one off games are difficult to predict. They could easily crash out in the round of 16, but they could just as easily wind up in the semi. I'd say that any team that has a legitimate chance of reaching the semi is a contender, if not a favorite.
BTW Locke, who's dubbing England a favorite? The favorites in every thing I've seen are Brazil, Spain and Argentina, with a smattering of Germany, Italy, England, France and Holland thrown in as the second tier.
Edit: Just saw that soccernet bit, definitely don't agree with that. I'm not sure I'd put Holland in England's spot, but I'd definitely pull England out of there. To me it's Brazil and Spain, followed by Argentina (due to the madman on the bench), and then the England, Holland etc. group.