David Beckham’s Loss Could Be Joe Cole’s Gain For England World Cup Squad
All the focus this week has been on the injury to David Beckham which has ruled him out of the World Cup but doesn’t it seem a huge fuss has been made about nothing? He may be a hugely popular player but he was probably never going to play more than an hour in the entire tournament and it could actually be a blessing in disguise.
The Achilles tendon injury clearly isn’t expected to hamper England’s chances at the World Cup as the England World Cup Odds remain unchanged and England are still one of the favourites to win the World Cup. What is much more worrying than the Beckham injury is Aaron Lennon’s groin injury that has kept him out all year. He has looked the complete right winger this season, skinning opponents, setting up goals with great crosses and also chipping in with goals now.
The bookies make Aaron Lennon the odds on favourite to start for England on the right wing against USA and if he returns and proves his fitness then that looks about right. But what if Lennon’s niggling problem continues and he doesn’t make the place to South Africa?
The next players on the list appear to be Capello favourite James Milner, the inconsistent Theo Walcott and also Shaun Wright Phillips, who appears to have booked a spot on Capello’s plans from a decent twenty minutes off the bench against Egypt.
The Beckham injury could be good news for Joe Cole, who is still struggling for form since his injury problems but he remains a great talent and his World Cup 2010 hopes might not be dashed yet, he could still be the twenty third man that makes the squad, which will be announced on June 1st.
Whatever happens it seems England are not short of options on the right wing but they could end up short of top quality options and that can sometimes make the difference between winning and losing.
England are currently the third favourites to win the World Cup, behind Brazil and Spain, and despite not seemingly have the class of those two sides England could still start the World Cup as favourites, with the bookies at least.
The England World Cup Odds are 11/2 with most bookies and just half a point ahead are Brazil at 5/1 and half a point in front of them are Spain at 9/2. That means there is basically nothing in it at this point. There is always plenty of patriotic money for England in the weeks leading up to the World Cup and things at the World Cup 2010 should be no different.
Should England really expect to be favourites for the World Cup though? At the moment they are considered third best therefore should be getting to the semi final and then winning the third place playoff. That would be England’s best performance for twenty years.
To be fair, England’s route to the semi final isn’t really that hard. Presuming England win their group they should then face Ghana, Serbia or Australia in the Second Round, either way it is a winnable game. After that things get a bit tougher against likely opponents Argentina but they have not been at their best recently so England should be able to beat them.
Should England reach the World Cup Semi Final they are likely to play Brazil, which will probably be the end of England’s World Cup hopes, but over one game England are capable of beating Brazil and then it is time to start dreaming about World Cup glory. Unfortunately Spain are likely to be lying in waiting for the winner of the England v Brazil semi final.
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Wayne Rooney Is The Man To Help England To World Cup Glory
Who is England’s best player? At least nine out of ten people would surely answer Wayne Rooney and it is very hard to make a case for England at the World Cup 2010 without their star man. If any evidence was needed that Rooney has improved yet again this season it is his two headed goals against AC Milan as heading was previously his weakest point.
Wayne Rooney already has big tournament experience despite still being relatively young, he burst onto the International scene with a great performance at Euro 2004 but he got injured against Portugal and England ended up going out. At the 2006 World Cup things were looking good for England until, you guessed it, Wayne Rooney got sent off against old friends Portugal and England crashed it. It is simply as if England cannot win without the Man Utd striker.
No surprise really that so many people are backing Wayne Rooney to be the World Cup Golden Boot as a good tournament for Wayne Rooney means a good tournament for England yet the Wayne Rooney World Cup Golden Boot Odds are around three times as high as England’s World Cup Odds. Which bet would you make at this stage?
Of course England have plenty of other good players but they are very much the foundations that allow Wayne Rooney to express himself. The likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and even Aaron Lennon if he plays will all be expected to give the ball to Rooney as much as possible and so strong is Wayne Rooney’s influence that his striker partner, who remains unknown, will probably be picked on the basis of who brings out the best in Wayne Rooney.
