Don’t be fooled: Capello still stifling England’s future

Fabio Capello tonight announced his England squad to face France at Wembley on Wednesday, and it looks very much like the only bold, positive changes have been made out of desperation rather than a serious desire to rejuvenate the national side.

Since the World Cup debacle Capello seems very much to have taken a short-term view, looking only at the remaining two years on his contract. His desire to persist with the old guard who have failed time after time was made clear last month against Montenegro, when he openly displayed the fact that he’s not serious about Jack Wilshere as an option at full international level. In that turgid game, where England were crying out for some creativity, Capello left Wilshere, who has been displaying exactly that kind of creativity prominently for Arsenal this season, on the bench. I have no doubts now that Wilshere’s presence in recent squads has been nothing more than a token gesture to placate those calling for new blood in the team. Unfortunately, today’s squad just takes that further.

If Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard were all fit, you can be sure that Andy Carroll, Jay Bothroyd and Jordan Henderson would not have been called up for this game. All three of them absolutely deserve their places in the squad (although Bothroyd does represent a gamble, considering his excellent form has come in the Championship), and the reason why I believe that is that Wolves’ Matt Jarvis was excluded. On current form, few Premier League players are outperforming left winger Jarvis, who did well again today under the eyes of the England manager, but Gareth Barry is fit and so he makes the squad in his stead, despite having been very poor in his last few internationals and quiet in a slumping Manchester City side.

Another who should without a doubt be in the squad is Bolton’s Gary Cahill, who made his long-deserved debut against Bulgaria, but he’s not there either. What exactly is Capello going to learn from playing Terry and Ferdinand at centre-half on Wednesday? Even if you overlook the fact that the former is not good enough and the latter is approaching Ledley King levels of fragility, the two have 143 caps between them. All they will be doing is denying Cahill and Phil Jagielka valuable experience of international opposition.

In an ideal world, Cahill, Jagielka, Jarvis, Henderson, Carroll, Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs would all start against Laurent Blanc’s there-to-be-taken-advantage-of Bleus. But let’s face it, it’ll be Terry, Ferdinand, an out-of-form James Milner, Barry, Peter Crouch, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole in their places. I don’t see how Capello benefits from any of them picking up another cap, with the exception of Milner who should be taking Barry’s place in the middle for Jarvis’ sake, but will inevitably be stranded on the left. Milner these days is an industrious player rather than a creative force, and should be employed in the centre where he was so brilliant for Aston Villa last season.

So sadly, on the face of it, there’s a lot to be optimistic about in this England squad, but under the surface it has “squandered opportunity” written all over it.

Premier League preview 2010/11 part 2

MANCHESTER CITY

City are going to be one of the most interesting sides to observe over the next year. Having comfortably outspent the rest of the league put together, Roberto Mancini now has to trim down a strong squad into his twenty-five. His signings so far have been impressive – Yaya Toure and David Silva in particular are genuine world-class players – although Mario Balotelli is a huge risk. There’s no doubt about his potential (and, indeed, current) ability, but his attitude is awful and it seriously impedes him. When James Milner eventually arrives he, too, will be a good addition. City have fixed some of their defensive problems by signing Aleksandar Kolarov, an excellent attacking left-back, and Germany’s Jerome Boateng who will probably play at right-back, although centre-back is still a problem that needs urgent work. It’s impossible to discount City from having a serious title chance, although I think there are still questions over Mancini’s quality. If he does not at least keep pace with the challengers he’ll be gone, but there’s enough quality at Eastlands to finally break into the Champions League promised land. Verdict: 3rd

MANCHESTER UNITED

I don’t think it’s just my personal bias that leads me to think that United will slip down the table a little this year. Their greatest strength of two or three years ago, the central defensive partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, is now something of a worry as Ferdinand’s body quietly falls apart and Vidic’s motivations are seriously questioned. The centre of midfield is either ageing to the extent that starting games will be unusual (Scholes, Giggs) or not quite top class (Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Gibson). Javier Hernandez is a great signing up front and has been impressive in pre-season but when you get past him and the utterly-vital Wayne Rooney depth in attack is limited to the underwhelming Dimitar Berbatov and sadly past-it Michael Owen. Of course you can never rule United out but for the first time in a long time they start the season looking slightly weaker than their local rivals. Verdict: 4th

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Put simply, Newcastle look no better than they did two years ago and will probably go back down to the Championship. Chris Hughton’s squad were too good for the second tier but they don’t look like Premier League quality in any area. Goals will be hard to come by, as is to be expected when a side relies on Shola Ameobi as the senior striker. Kevin Nolan is probably the club’s best asset, likely to play just behind Ameobi in the role that saw him score eighteen goals last season, but his efforts are unlikely to be enough. The behind-the-scenes circus which will inevitably flare up at some stage in the season will be no help either. Verdict: 18th

STOKE CITY

In two short years Stoke have established themselves as a Premier League club and are now able to start splashing cash on the likes of Kenwyne Jones, who is a little inconsistent but will bring much-needed power to the Potters’ front line. Tony Pulis has assembled a hard-working squad who may profit from other teams’ deficiencies to build further on their recent league finishes and break into the top ten. Goalkeeping is a strong point, with Thomas Sorensen and Asmir Begovic set to fight for the number 1 jersey, behind the improving Ryan Shawcross at centre-back. Backed by the loudest fans in the league, Stoke have every reason to be optimistic about their chances. Verdict: 9th

SUNDERLAND

Sunderland’s seasons have a habit of tailing off nearly as badly as Aston Villa’s, but I still feel they should do well this year. This is mostly down to Darren Bent, one of the most effective strikers in the division, who can be relied upon to hit the back of the net, and a midfield containing maturing young talents Lee Cattermole and last year’s Young Player of the Year Jordan Henderson which will be bolstered by Cristian Riveros, who was impressive for Paraguay at the World Cup. A lot will depend on how new signing 22-year-old Belgian keeper Simon Mignolet deals with being thrust straight into first-team action deputising for the injured Craig Gordon, but if Sunderland can find the season-long consistency that has eluded them for so long, then I think it will be a good year. Verdict: 8th

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

If, as is likely, Spurs overcome Young Boys of Berne to reach the Champions League group stages, then I have a feeling that they may get distracted by their European campaign and lose out on their newfound top four status. There’s plenty to be excited about at White Hart Lane, particularly former Southampton favourite Gareth Bale’s development into a devastating winger, but I think that Manchester City have gone further forward over the summer and Spurs are about where they were at the start of it. Not impossible that they can stay in the Champions League places but more likely that they just miss out. Verdict: 5th

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

Boing, boing, etc. The Baggies should continue their now-customary bouncing between the top two tiers and go straight back where they came from. Their problem remains the same as ever – chairman Jeremy Peace refuses to risk spending £10-15 million on two Premiership-quality strikers and so they don’t score enough goals in the top tier. Roberto di Matteo seems a talented young manager with a little more street smarts than the ultra-idealist Tony Mowbray but I don’t think there’s enough to work with in his squad to survive. Spanish defender Pablo, signed from Atletico Madrid, is a great transfer, though, and should be an important part of their fight against relegation. Verdict: 19th

WEST HAM UNITED

West Ham have done well to keep hold of their key players, particularly the spine of Rob Green, Matthew Upson, Scott Parker and Carlton Cole, and with Uncle Avram at the helm I think there should be some increased stability at Upton Park. That spine has been bolstered by some clever signings like dynamic German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, pacy Mexican winger Pablo Barrera and, surprisingly, New Zealand World Cup hero Winston Reid, who scored that memorable last-gasp equaliser against Slovakia. West Ham won’t pull up any trees this season but they should be clear of the relegation places. Verdict: 15th

WIGAN ATHLETIC

Still struggling to attract many fans, Wigan are unlikely survivors in the Premier League but may escape again thanks to the low quality of the promoted teams. Roberto Martinez is commendable for trying to play stylish football on the awful pitch at the DW Stadium but has yet to have any success with it. Hugo Rodallega should score plenty of goals, although the jury is out on how well the much-feted new signing Mauro Boselli will adapt to life in Wigan. Charles N’Zogbia seems to have found his level here, as well, although rumours that he may be handing in a transfer request soon would be bad for both parties. Antolin Alcaraz and Maynor Figueroa will be reliable in defence as well. Verdict: 16th

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Wolves finished fifteenth last year mainly thanks to the inadequacies of those around them and they should probably expect a closer brush with relegation this time around. The squad has not been particularly well strengthened (Steven Fletcher didn’t exactly set the world alight for Burnley last year) and I’m not convinced by Mick McCarthy as a top-flight manager. Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann might be the difference between staying up and going down. Verdict: 17th

FA Cup: Manchester United

Carling Cup: Manchester City

Championship: Middlesbrough

League 1: Southampton (no, really!)

League 2: Wycombe Wanderers

Spanish Primera: Barcelona

Italian Serie A: Roma

German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich

Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax

Champions League: Chelsea

Europa League: Stuttgart

Premier League preview 2010/11 part 1

With the international friendlies out of the way (probably not to be discussed again until the first qualifying matches take place) it’s now time to turn our attentions toward club football once again, so here is the Official CDB Pod English Premier League Preview 2010/11, part one. Part two coming tomorrow.

ARSENAL

Arsenal are a tough team to judge this season. At the end of the last campaign it was pretty obvious that Arsene Wenger needed to invest in at least one good centre-half, holding midfielder, centre-forward and goalkeeper – compare to what he’s actually done so far and you can only say for sure that one of those objectives has been achieved, namely Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh on a free. Chamakh is an excellent acquisition, especially for nothing, the type of strong forward player who should add a dimension to Arsenal’s attack that has been missing for several years. However the other problems still remain. Manuel Almunia is not a sufficiently good keeper for a club of Arsenal’s aspirations, and Wenger’s refusal to scrape together the surely-not-too-large amounts of cash to prize 37-year-old Mark Schwarzer away from Fulham is a little bizarre. Laurent Koscielny may have arrived from Lorient but both William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre have left at the end of their contracts, so further strength at centre-back is clearly needed. That said, the likes of Alex Song, Carlos Vela, and Samir Nasri look to be finally delivering on their promise and that may be enough to build on the good starts that Arsenal haven’t quite kept going for long enough in past seasons. Verdict:2nd

ASTON VILLA

The period of Aston Villa knocking on the door of the top five looks to be over. Owner Randy Lerner is clearly balking at the fact that the considerable amounts of money he’s already put into the club aren’t nearly enough to actually break into the Champions League reckoning, and inspirational manager Martin O’Neill finally lost his patience with Villa’s slide towards feeder-club status and resigned just a couple of days ago. Reports suggest O’Neill’s attitude towards the wage bill may have been a little cavalier, but it’s entirely understandable how frustrating it must be to do so well for consecutive seasons and, at the end of each, have your best player sold in an embarrassingly public drawn-out transfer saga, as happened to Gareth Barry and is currently happening to James Milner. With his as-yet unknown successor surely tasked with reducing the wage bill, I wouldn’t expect to see much in the way of reinforcement at Villa Park before the end of the transfer window, and coupled with question marks over the motivations of Ashley Young and possibly other players, it looks like they’ll be getting left behind by the teams surrounding them. Brad Friedel and Stephen Warnock remain key figures. Verdict: 10th

BIRMINGHAM CITY

There’s no doubt the Blues punched above their weight last time around and are unlikely to finish quite so strongly again, especially with Joe Hart having returned to Man City, but Alex McLeish’s men should have enough to avoid being caught in a relegation battle. Ben Foster is a clever piece of business to replace Hart, a man hungry to prove himself after stagnating slightly on the Man United bench and establish himself as Hart’s understudy for England. In Scott Dann and Roger Johnson they boast a sterling central defensive pairing, too. The problems come in squad depth further up the field – on a good day new beanpole striker Nikola Zigic is very good, but on a bad day he can be prize pants, and backups like Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome and Marcus Bent hardly inspire confidence. Lee Bowyer will struggle to have as good a season as last in the midfield and much may rely on the creative influence of James McFadden to get things done in front of goal. Verdict: 14th

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Well, nobody wanted it to happen, but it looks like Sam Allardyce is successfully reproducing his old Bolton side at Ewood Park, warts and all. Blackburn are perfecting the art of defending stoutly for eighty minutes, then shoving centre-back Chris Samba up front and lumping the ball up to him for somebody else to bundle it in when it bounces off the Congolese colossus. They’ll be perfectly fine again this season – Paul Robinson has remembered he’s half-decent, Samba and Ryan Nelsen have both experience and expertise at the back, and will be supplemented by emerging 18-year-old Phil Jones. In midfield, young Steven N’Zonzi is attracting the attentions of Arsenal and for good reason. Goals are the problem and they are looking like relying heavily on Nikola Kalinic, who has talent but is still settling into English football, and Morten Gamst Pedersen’s free-kicks. Will stay well clear of trouble but won’t bother the Europe-chasing pack. Verdict: 11th

BLACKPOOL

Blackpool are going down as quickly as Ian Holloway can coin a metaphor. They look to have taken the ultimately quite sensible business decision on not frittering all their promotion money away on frantically trying to boost a squad several levels below Premier League ability and instead simply taking the Sky money and parachute payments for relegation to solidify their status as a Championship team. It may not be exciting as a neutral to see Blackpool with good odds of beating Derby’s wooden spoon record, but the achievement of even reaching the playoffs with this squad was miraculous enough. Their only player who you would say is of sufficient quality is playmaker Charlie Adam, who scored sixteen from midfield last season and was the main driving force behind their late push to Wembley glory, and I think it’s highly likely he will be snapped up on the cheap by a relegation rival in January when Blackpool’s fate should already be all but sealed. It’s a shame, because I love Holloway and I think it’s great to see Blackpool in the top tier, but their fans should look to the possibility of Premier League survival in three or four years’ time instead. Verdict: 20th

BOLTON WANDERERS

Owen Coyle is starting to have some success getting his Bolton side to play his desired attractive football, and Bolton should be comfortably clear of relegation questions. They boast a better-than-solid spine in Jussi Jaaskelainen (consistently one of the league’s best keepers for the past ten years), Gary Cahill, Fabrice Muamba and official dirtiest-ever Premier League player, captain Kevin Davies, and in Lee Chung-Yong and snazzy free transfer Martin Petrov there will be plenty of creativity in midfield. Weaknesses, though, will be scoring goals and top-class opposition wingers – up front, Davies, Ivan Klasnic and Johan Elmander are all the goal-shy kind and Gretar Steinsson and Jlloyd Samuel are far from inspiring full-backs. Verdict: 13th

CHELSEA

Chelsea mount the defence of their title in reasonably good shape and look favourites to win again this year, but they do look slightly weaker than they did twelve months ago. For one thing, all their key players – Lampard, Drogba, Cech, Terry, Ashley Cole – are all another year older and one has to wonder when the decline will become evident. For another thing, Ricardo Carvalho’s departure to Real Madrid does not look like it is going to be offset by the signing of a centre-back of equivalent quality. Reports are that at least one of Brazilians Neymar and Ramires are to arrive for in the region of £25 million each, possibly both, and given the slight scaling back in recent years of Roman Abramovich’s spending, that seems unlikely to be followed by a further big signing. That could be crucial, as while Alex stepped up last season to become a more consistent performer, Carvalho was a big part of John Terry’s success for the club, who made the captain look much better than he really is. This could, and probably should, turn out to be the season in which Terry gets dropped from the first team. Other news is good news, though, and Michael Essien’s return will be a big boost to manager Carlo Ancelotti (although at this rate you have to ask when he’ll be injured next). So, too, will the exchange deal bringing Yossi Benayoun to Stamford Bridge in Joe Cole’s place. Benayoun should fit in well as an impact substitute, part of the deepest squad in the league. Between them, Drogba, Anelka and Lampard should score the goals required to fire Chelsea back to the top. Verdict: 1st

EVERTON

David Moyes has done well to tie down key man Mikel Arteta to a new contract, with Steven Pienaar expected to follow suit in the best piece of transfer business to come out of Goodison Park this summer. Everton’s midfield is right up there with the best in the league, with Arteta and Pienaar supported by Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell, Tim Cahill, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Leon Osman. Tim Howard is reliably excellent in goal and if Louis Saha can stay fit he should be able to blend well with pacy new second striker Magaye Gueye. Jermaine Beckford is probably a gamble unlikely to pay off at this level, though. Verdict: 6th

FULHAM

It’s important that Mark Hughes fends off Arsenal’s approaches for evergreen Mark Schwarzer, because without him Fulham would be at risk of being given a slight reality check after the dizzy heights of last season’s Europa League adventure. The motivational powers of Roy Hodgson cannot be underestimated and I don’t really see Hughes as having similar managerial talent – he’s yet to really prove much of anything at club level. Fulham will be solid in defence (new signing Philippe Senderos notwithstanding) and full of effort in attack and will need Bobby Zamora to repeat his exceptional form of last season. If Hughes has time to spend the money that Mohammed Al Fayed says is available to him, then a forward or winger with pace should be on the agenda to freshen up the front line of journeymen. Progress from last year’s finish would be a good achievement. Verdict: 12th

LIVERPOOL

I’ve talked already about Liverpool and not much has changed since then. It’s surprising that Javier Mascherano hasn’t moved on yet but the offer from Inter hasn’t materialised and Barcelona aren’t as interested in the deal as Mascherano himself is. He is surely on his way out, though, now that Christian Poulsen has signed from Juventus. Poulsen’s a decent player but not in the same league as Mascherano – clearly a replacement signing for a player whose transfer fee is not expected to be reinvested in the market. With the takeover saga advancing at the pace of continental drift, it looks set to be another disappointing season at Anfield. Verdict: 7th

Capello’s half-hearted revamp betrays confusion in England setup

Forty-four days since their humbling exit from the World Cup, England begin their preparations for Euro 2012 qualifying tomorrow with a friendly against Hungary hoping for a bright new start, but as Fabio Capello admits he doesn’t know what to do to get the members of that ill-fated jaunt to South Africa to perform for him, there are worrying signs that this is not going to be the complete overhaul of the squad that is required.

Apart from the huge amounts of money they would have had to spend to sack him, the FA must have insisted to Capello that a condition of his retention as England manager would be to drop the ageing players who have let the national team down for many years and bring in a new generation of young players to mould together in anticipation of Poland and Ukraine in two years’ time and ultimately Brazil in four. That, however, does not seem to have really happened. Although pint-sized Arsenal prodigy Jack Wilshere has been fast-tracked into the squad alongside his club team-mate Kieran Gibbs, the bulk of the squad is still made up of the same old players, and the expected starting eleven for tomorrow’s game makes for depressing reading.

The luckiest man to still have a place is John Terry. Never a truly world-class defender, Terry’s brave attitude has complemented well the likes of Ricardo Carvalho and William Gallas at Chelsea over the years, but he is now cripplingly short of pace, a huge deficiency for an international centre-back, and after his rather pathetic attempted mutiny at the World Cup it is very surprising that a man of Capello’s supposed ruthlessness has stuck with him. In two years’ time Terry will be 31. If you think he’s slow now, just imagine how much of a liability he’ll be then. It’s not as if he’s even been one of the most outstanding English centre-backs at club level over the past two seasons or so. Having fully earned their call-ups to the squad, Everton’s Phil Jagielka and Tottenham’s Michael Dawson should be the two to start in that position for the opening qualifier against Bulgaria.

It’s not just Terry who should have been jettisoned, too. While they still have the ability to contribute towards the 2012 campaign, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry all need a wake-up call. They should have been told to go back to their clubs and put in performances to win back their places and prove that they should be trusted again. It’s not as if this is the first opportunity that these players have had to bounce back from a poor summer tournament. A new, harsher approach is required to seriously tackle the complacency that has become rampant in the minds of these players, who have long since succumbed to believing their own hype.

In keeping faith with them for this first new squad, Capello has betrayed his lack of confidence in the younger generation who have been knocking on the door. If he really thought that they were good enough to be brought through into the first team then he should have followed the example of Laurent Blanc. The new France coach, surfing an Obama-like wave of optimism from the fans for simply not being his predecessor, took the clever step of ‘suspending’ every member of his country’s World Cup squad for their friendly against Norway, calling up thirteen uncapped players and all but one under thirty years old. They have been given the initiative in the build-up for their qualification campaign and the disappointments from South Africa have to do the work of winning back their places if they are worth it. That Gerrard, Lampard, Barry and Terry are all set to start against Hungary shows that in reality the call-ups of Wilshere, Gibbs, and the like are little more than a token effort to appease those calling for a more radical overhaul.

There are also questions being asked of Capello’s man-management. This is most apparent in the case of Robert Green. Dropped from the original squad while Terry et al remained, the West Ham keeper was overlooked when first Paul Robinson petulantly retired from international duty because he didn’t want to be a backup, and then when Ben Foster had to pull out through injury. Scott Loach’s emergency promotion from the Under-21 side makes sense, as he is first choice there and at Watford in the Championship, and although he is far from the finished article, he can reasonably be expected to push for a regular place in the squad in a couple of years’ time. That he has been joined by 22-year-old Frankie Fielding, Blackburn’s fourth choice whose last competitive game was against Barnet on loan with Rochdale in League 2, is a pretty severe kick in the teeth for Green. That Green has been so obviously scapegoated for one mistake that arguably was less embarrassing than John Terry’s positioning against Germany and such like seems more than a little off on Capello’s part, as if he thinks that the rest of the squad have chosen to blame Green rather than seriously face up to their own deficiencies, and that he is desperately trying to indulge that childish belief to try and get them to perform by any means. Fielding may have promise but nobody can pretend that he is anywhere near Green’s level. This inconsistency in punishment for the South African failure reflects very badly on Capello in my view.

There are plenty of players in the squad who deserve to be there, forming the core of the upcoming qualifying campaign. Jagielka, Dawson, Joe Hart, Gary Cahill, James Milner, Ashley Young, Adam Johnson, and Bobby Zamora have all earned the right to be where they now are. But there are still glaring omissions (Jack Rodwell and Lee Cattermole are two who stand out) and those who have been called up may feel undermined by not being given the chance to start at Wembley tomorrow. This is not the bright new dawn that England fans have been hoping for, and it seems increasingly clear that Capello may not be capable of ushering it in after all.

Day 17: FIFAk’s Sake!

Germany 4 – 1 England

Argentina 3 – 1 Mexico

And thus concludes a thoroughly embarrassing day for FIFA and a thoroughly depressing day for me personally. Please bear with me, dear readers, as I am feeling quite sick today, and not only because of the England performance.

Let’s get one thing out of the way straight away: Frank Lampard’s brilliant lob should not have been disallowed. Yes, technology could have corrected the mistake almost immediately. Yes, it was an absolute howler for the officials and a huge egg on FIFA’s face. But let’s not let that overshadow the fact that England were absolutely abysmal apart from the 54-second period between Matthew Upson’s headed goal and “Lampsgate” (copyright: The Sun). I have never been a professional defender but it was really obvious to me that England’s positioning was all wrong, accounting for all the four German goals.

Culprit numero uno was Terry, who was playing like his first name was Hans-Dieter rather than John. He ran around chasing the ball like an exuberant puppy with absolutely no sense of organisation, and Upson followed him like the nerdy kid peering over the popular kid’s shoulder. With Gareth Barry further forward than a holding player should be because of the 4-4-2 formation, Mesut Oezil was constantly given acres of space in which to frolic like, well, an exuberant puppy. The difference is that Oezil is supposed to be that puppy. Terry is not. Elsewhere on the pitch, James Milner seemed to try but made little impact down the right, Jermain Defoe touched the ball little, and Wayne Rooney looked no less burnt out than he has done all tournament. Steven Gerrard showed signs of trying to lift the team single-handedly like he (used to) do for Liverpool, but after a few second-half long shots came to naught he faded as well. The only player to actually have a decent game was David James, despite conceding four. The goals were the fault of defensive mistakes and James prevented a couple of good chances from adding to them.

When trying to determine exactly what went wrong this summer for England, my first thought is to look primarily at the players. Whatever mistakes Fabio Capello has made (I’ll discuss those in a moment), this is a group of players who, by and large, have been part of the England setup over the past six to eight years, through three stewardships of two very different styles. They have consistently been unable to gel into a fluent team and have performed, for many years, several levels short of their club form. This is partly explainable by the fact that at club level they are surrounded by players of different nationalities, who have different mentalities and approaches to the game. However they must take responsibility for poor performances at big tournaments. Looking forward now to the future, England should take a leaf out of the German book and phase through a younger team sooner rather than later, one less burdened by years of failure. Terry in particular is one player who I don’t think should play for England again, but Upson, James, King, Heskey, Wright-Phillips, and maybe even the likes of Gerrard and Ferdinand should all be phased out. Now is the time for Joe Hart, Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott, and Jack Rodwell to be brought in alongside Milner and Rooney.

It’s hard to say whether Capello is the right person to do that or not. I like him, I think he’s the best manager England have had in a long time, and should have the experience and the knowledge to make a new England side work. He has made some serious errors in this tournament, though, of that there can be no doubt. For one thing, this World Cup should be remembered as the one that consigned the traditional 4-4-2 formation to history. Playing 4-4-2 throughout the competition, England were exposed as too flat and predictable. In the modern game at least one holding midfielder playing much deeper than Gareth Barry is required, and most good teams now operate with two deep-lying central players in a 4-2-3-1 that gives greater flexibility. Barry was too far forward to pick up attacking midfielders like Oezil and Messi, and Frank Lampard was too deep to trouble holding players like Schweinsteiger and Gilberto Silva.

Capello’s substitutions were also poor at the World Cup, particularly today. Emile Heskey has his uses but he is clearly not an out-and-out goalscorer. If you have Jermain Defoe on the pitch rather than the bench to come on as a sub to stretch the game, then you can’t replace him with Heskey when you need to score three goals to get back into the game. In the squad, Peter Crouch was a more obvious replacement. In theory, Darren Bent should have been backing up Defoe.

I hope Capello’s forthcoming meeting with the FA to decide his future involves him convincing them that he is willing to adapt his tactics to better suit the challenges of modern international football. If he can’t overcome his stubbornness, then he should be removed from his post. I hope that it doesn’t come to that, but one way or another a change is required. If he does go, then I hope somebody intelligent, thoughtful and tactically modern can be found to replace him, and that the FA avoids the temptation to knee-jerkingly appoint an Englishman on principal, because not many English managers fit that description (I’d probably settle for Woy Hodgson, but I can’t think of anyone else. The worst case scenario would be ‘Arry Bloody Redknapp).

I must of course take a moment to comment on Germany, who thoroughly deserved their win, playing well and doing exactly what was required to exploit England’s weaknesses. Another four goals wouldn’t really have flattered them. Oezil had another excellent game – I really, really like him – and so did Thomas Mueller, who pulled the trigger twice halfway through the second half with two powerful shots, and Lukas Podolski. They did again look vulnerable at the back, just less so than England.

They will be much more tested by Argentina, who weren’t at their best but did do enough to beat Mexico in their second round match. They were sent on their way, though, by an even worse incident than the Lampard disallowed goal. When Lionel Messi, who was a little more subdued this evening, flicked a pass through to Carlos Tevez who scored, Tevez was clearly offside, with not even a single player ahead of him. Disallowing the goal was bad enough but when the man operating the stadium’s big screen oopsied and replayed the decision, clearly showing everyone inside the stadium that the officials had made the wrong call. The Mexicans knew and duly surrounded the referee, the assistant who flagged the offside knew and looked hugely guilty and upset at his mistake, and the referee knew but also knew that by the letter of the law, having already given the goal, he could not reverse the decision. And so everyone played on having discovered, like the TV viewers, that the goal should not have stood within about thirty seconds of its occurence. Sepp Blatter blathers on about technology eliminating the human nature of refereeing mistakes and taking away from the authority of the officials, but when we all know almost instantly that decisions are clearly wrong it degrades the referee’s authority even more severely. The technology exists, it’s quick, and yes, there would be some difficulties in deciding and fine-tuning exactly when and how often the technology could be applied, but it’s a bog that FIFA absolutely needs to weigh into for the good of the game.

There was no doubt about the second goal, though, as Ricardo Osorio made a catastrophically bad error passing the ball straight to Gonzalo Higuain who took full advantage. From then on Mexico did not look like seriously getting back into the game, and Tevez’s second goal in the second half was magnificent, a ferocious shot from the edge of the area. Javier Hernandez pulled one back with a really good goal, completely bypassing Martin Demichelis, who still looks like a major weakness for this Argentina side, and firing home with venom. The Mexicans just didn’t put together a strong enough push to capitalise on that lifeline, though, despite the best efforts of half-time sub Pablo Barrera, who looks a real player, and will be left to wonder what might have been if they’d had a more clinical target man and less of a shafting by Lady Luck.

Germany-Argentina will now be a fascinating quarter-final, which should produce plenty of goals. Both sides are weak in defense but posess two of the tournament’s best performers so far in Oezil and Messi. I wouldn’t want to call it.

Man of the Day: Sepp Blatter. (all right, Mesut Oezil.)

Tomorrow, I can’t imagine lightning striking twice with this Slovakia side and the Netherlands should blow them away with Arjen Robben now fit and looking in dangerous form, but Brazil-Chile could go either way. The suspensions will probably take their toll in the end. Brazil to win.

Day 13: They’re Ghana Keep Going

Slovenia 0 – 1 England

USA 1 – 0 Algeria

Ghana 0 – 1 Germany

Australia 2 – 1 Serbia

It’s been a good day for the first African World Cup as Ghana reached the last sixteen ensuring that at least one nation from the continent can carry the local support into the second round. I’ll come to the Group D resolution in a few moments, after I’ve dealt with Group C, where England produced an acceptable performance to beat Slovenia and scrape through to schedule a defeat to Germany on Sunday.

If you were watching England edge Slovenia on the BBC you would be forgiven for thinking that it was the most impressive performance since records began. It is a sad indictment of just how bad the first two games have been for Fabio Capello et al that Guy Mowbray and Mark Lawrenson were purring as if they were watching Brazil circa 1970, because England were not exactly what I’d call impressive in victory. They were certainly much improved, pulling themselves together after a first few minutes that were largely in the same tone as the Algeria game. After about fifteen minutes things started to settle – Steven Gerrard actually listened to his manager’s instructions and stuck more strictly to the left wing, which allowed for better link-ups with Ashley Cole, who was one of England’s better attacking influences. James Milner, replacing Aaron Lennon, put in a much better performance than his stinker against the USA, showing the drive and work-rate he’s been putting in for Aston Villa this season, and gave much better end product than Lennon, the more natural winger, by providing some great crosses, none better than that which led to the only goal of the game. I don’t often have much to say in favour of Jermain Defoe, I’ve never really rated his ability to influence a game, but he made an excellent timed run to meet the cross and volleyed too strongly for the otherwise brilliant Samir Handanovic to save.

England continued to dominate through the first half without really creating many more great opportunities. The first twenty minutes of the second half should have seen them cement the victory though, Defoe in particular narrowly missing a chance he should have done much better with, and Handanovic being equal to a John Terry header that looked promising. But England just couldn’t pull the trigger and it became evident that Slovenia were becoming more confident from being reprieved. Towards the end things got tense as England were mostly on the defensive, and substitute Zlatko Dedic would have scored if not for an immense last-ditch tackle from Matthew Upson. England were overall worth the win, Slovenia having not really fulfilled the promise from their first half against the USA, but they will need to be far more ruthless if they are to stand a chance against a Germany side who are better all over the pitch than Slovenia (except for in goal). This performance was the minimum that is required from a side with quarter- or semi-final aspirations.

I saw very little of the USA-Algeria game but enough to recognise some shameful finishing from Rafik Djebbour for Algeria, and Jozy Altidore of the US, who blazed ridiculously over the bar from barely any distance out at all. It’s a good thing the States got the win because they had for the second time in this group had a perfectly reasonable goal disallowed, this time for offside, but the complaining that I read from some Americans on the web to the tune of “if FIFA wants us to be interested in the World Cup, stop giving us bad referees” was silly – bad referees happen to everyone. It’s part of being a fan. Anyway, I am pleased that the USA got through, I think it would have set back football in that country if they hadn’t, and they are quite a fun side to watch, more so than Slovenia. I would fancy their chances of making the quarter-finals, as well.

And so to Group D, where I would say that Ghana secured their qualification, but they didn’t really – it was thanks to Australia that they made it through. Ghana themselves lost an exciting and open game to Germany. It could have gone either way in the first half, with plenty of chances for either side and a suspicion of handball against Phillipp Lahm who blocked a goalbound header from a Ghanaian corner. Mesut Oezil was the star of the show again for Germany, making brilliant forward runs and slippery passes, and he scored the only goal of the game, an absolute belter from outside the area that Richard Kingson, who had a pretty good game generally, could do nothing to stop. Germany were clearly missing Miroslav Klose – Cacau just doesn’t seem as influential and powerful up front – but pressed their advantage in the second half as Ghana started to run out of ideas.

Ghana attacked plenty, with Kevin Prince-Boateng playing with freedom and adventure, but couldn’t quite find the goal they needed, which means that they have qualified, the first team in my memory to do so, without having scored a goal from open play. Only two Asamoah Gyan penalties have earned them their passage and it is arguable that they did not so much deserve to get through the group as Australia, who picked themselves up remarkably from their opening defeat. Gyan will need to assert himself more against the USA and those who surround him, particularly Andre Ayew, must polish their shooting boots, to find the finishing to reward their industrious midfield play.

As I say, it’s something of a shame for Australia not to have qualified. Their typically plucky effort to recover from what looked like a disastrous opening hammering at the hands of Germany culminated in a 2-1 win over Serbia that ended Radomir Antic’s hopes of leading his team to the next round. I wasn’t able to take in a great deal of the flow of the game but I was impressed by the Australian goals, two in four minutes that briefly raised hopes of the miraculous four-goal swing that they needed to displace Ghana. The first was a typical strong header from the returning Tim Cahill, exactly the sort of late run and score that Australia had hoped to use much more of before his unfortunate dismissal against Germany, and the second was a brilliant long range shot from Brett Holman, who was allowed too much space by Serbia and hit low and powerfully past Vladimir Stojkovic. Holman’s a player who I am told has been heavily criticised by Australian fans but I’ve been really impressed by what I’ve seen of him at this World Cup – I’d be interested to see what Australians now think of him. He may be their Owen Hargreaves now.

So today has set up USA-Ghana on Saturday and Germany-England on Sunday. My instinct would be to expect wins for both the group-toppers. Germany have looked far better and more cohesive than England and Oezil is exactly the sort of player who has far too much intelligence and pace for the likes of John Terry to cope with. The USA will need to match Ghana’s midfield work-rate but as long as they don’t concede any penalties I don’t see where Ghana’s goals are going to come from at this rate.

Man of the Day: Oezil. I’ve just been so impressed by him throughout the group stages and he showed today he has goalscoring power as well as creativity.

Tomorrow, Groups E and F reach their conclusion (although for some reason Group F will play the afternoon fixtures). I’m going to stick my neck out and say that draws for Italy and New Zealand against Slovakia and Paraguay respectively will see the first use of the drawing of lots to decide a World Cup elimination (though I am aware that this is unlikely, I just can’t bet against the All Whites). The Netherlands will probably field a team of reserves but Arjen Robben should be back and they should beat Cameroon who have nothing to play for, while I think Japan’s greater defensive organisation will allow them to edge out Denmark.

World Cup Guide: Group C Preview

GROUP C

ENGLAND

FIFA World Ranking: 8

Team Colours: All white. Away kit is red shirts with white trim, white shorts, and red socks.

Manager: Fabio Capello has stamped his authority on the England team, forcing discipline and professionalism into training where Shteve McClaren let the players run the show. The Italian, who guided A.C. Milan to the Champions League in 1994, has yet to make England an excellent team but has certainly steadied the ship after McClaren’s disastrous reign. Refuses to be bullied by the media but doesn’t quite seem to have settled on his preferred tactics yet, having previously favoured pairing Wayne Rooney with Emile Heskey up front but deviating from that in the preparatory friendlies.

Form: One of the first European teams to qualify for the finals, England made good work of their qualifying group, with nine straight wins to seal their place before losing the dead rubber against Ukraine, and scored a European high of 34 goals during that campaign. The stats perhaps flattered them a little – the only game in which England really shined was the Theo Walcott-inspired demolition of Croatia in Zagreb that earned revenge over their Euro 2008 qualifying nemesis. More recently England have been uninspiring – they won friendlies against Mexico and Japan that they deserved to lose, having been outplayed in both and causing several players to lose their places in the squad, including Walcott.

Captain: Following yesterday’s tournament-ending injury to Rio Ferdinand, England are spared the most uninspiring captain of all time (Rio probably thought that when Capello told him he was the captain that they were going to pretend to be pirates) and instead Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard takes the armband. This is a huge tournament for Gerrard – coming off the back of a disappointing season for his club, he has never played consistently at his best for his country and at age 30, this may be his last chance to make an impact at the World Cup. Rumours of a £30 million bid for his services by Real Madrid will follow him throughout the summer, but Gerrard may well find the captaincy liberating, allowing him to drive the team on in the same way that he has done in the past for his club.

Key Man: It’s tempting to say Frank Lampard, but you just can’t look past Rooney, the only English striker who can really do damage to the top teams. Everything comes down to how England make room for him – it’s the unfashionable option but I think Heskey needs to play alongside him. Rooney himself has said that he prefers playing with Heskey, and Capello’s inclusion of the Aston Villa striker in the squad against his previous statement that he wouldn’t pick players not playing for their clubs shows his importance. It will also be vital that Rooney doesn’t lose his temper – he’s shown signs of improved maturity over the last couple of years, but he will be one of the first to grow frustrated if the game isn’t going well.

Man to Watch: Four years ago Owen Hargeaves won back the hearts of an entire nation by being the only English player to visibly run all over the pitch with 100% effort and determination, and this year, though he’s already better known to English fans, James Milner will be the one who can be absolutely relied on to keep going even if everything seems lost. Has been a revelation since his club manager Martin O’Neill moved him into the centre of midfield, but he can play pretty much anywhere on the pitch except maybe centre-half or in goal, and will likely be the first person that Capello turns to off the bench.

Prediction: England have a thin squad with the possible exception of the midfield and need to avoid any more injuries to key players. They do have the virtue of a kind draw, though. They should easily move past this group and you would expect them to overcome Serbia in the second round. A potential rematch with Mexico awaits in the quarter finals, which could be a stumbling block, but again England would be favourites for that. But as soon as England bump into a really good team – most likely Brazil in the semi finals – they will probably be brushed aside.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. David James (Portsmouth)

12. Robert Green (West Ham)

23. Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders

2. Glen Johnson (Liverpool)

3. Ashley Cole (Chelsea)

5. Ledley King (Tottenham)

6. John Terry (Chelsea)

13. Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

15. Matthew Upson (West Ham)

18. Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)

20. Michael Dawson (Tottenham)

Midfielders

4. Steven Gerrard, captain (Liverpool)

7. Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)

8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

11. Joe Cole (Chelsea)

14. Gareth Barry (Manchester City)

16. James Milner (Aston Villa)

17. Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)

22. Michael Carrick (Manchester United)

Forwards

9. Peter Crouch (Tottenham)

10. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

19. Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

21. Emile Heskey (Aston Villa)

USA

FIFA World Ranking: 14

Team Colours: White shirts with a grey diagonal stripe and red trim, white shorts with red and blue trim, white socks. Away kit is dark blue shirts with a white diagonal stripe and red trim, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks.

Manager: 52-year-old Bob Bradley managed first in college soccer and then in the MLS for nine years with Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas USA. He was originally named interim national team manager following the 2006 World Cup as everyone expected Jurgen Klinsmann to take over, but while negotiations with the great striker fell though, Bradley was busy building with young players as if he was already the full-time manager. He was eventually given the job permanently in early 2007 and presided over a largely successful qualification period.

Form: The US only lost twice in the final phase of CONCACAF qualfication, once to Mexico (understandable) and once to Costa Rica (an aberration). Their form during that qualfication was at times very impressive, the win away in Honduras to secure their ticket to South Africa a particular highlight as well as a flashy 8-0 thrashing of Barbados. They’ve also made sure to play several friendlies against top quality teams (and England) in the last year or so to gain experience, and also sprung a surprise at last summer’s Confederations Cup by beating Spain in the semi finals.

Captain: Former Fulham centre-back Carlos Bocanegra now plies his trade at Rennes. He’s a solid if unspectacular defender who can also ably fill in at left-back or as a holding midfielder if necessary. For a defender, he has a pretty good international scoring rate of 12 in 78, too, so expect him to be marked heavily at corners and free-kicks. Should lead the back line well.

Key Man: Only one man – if Landon Donovan plays to his potential then the USA will be a force to be reckoned with. The most talented male footballer his country has ever produced, Donovan will play behind the forwards and look to slip in from behind and look for a shooting opportunity. He’s never quite produced the goods at a major tournament before but is now in his prime – if he doesn’t make this World Cup one to remember he may never do it.

Man to Watch: 22-year-old central midfielder Michael Bradley has fought off the predictable shouts of nepotism (he’s the manager’s son) to make himself a vital part of the American XI. At just 18 he earned a transfer to Europe with Heerenveen in Holland, where he impressed, scoring 16 goals in 52 games (including 15 in his second season, the most by any American player in a foreign league), and is now in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach. He’s a dynamic player who likes to get forward and could have a real impact on this group.

Prediction: The US are a strong side with some great goalkeepers and a handy midfield – Donovan and Bradley will be joined by Clint Dempsey, who’s had an excellent season for Fulham, and Rangers winger DaMarcus Beasley – but they have a somewhat inexperienced forward line (past Jozy Altidore and Donovan, their other three forwards have 10 caps between them) and their full-backs could be exposed by a couple of good wingers. They should definitely get out of this group and will give England a run for their money but will probably finish second. They would be underdogs in the second round where presumably Germany await them, but not incapable of springing a surprise. In fact I have a sneaky feeling that this could be a good year for the Americans. I’ll stick my neck out and say they’ll make the quarter-finals.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Tim Howard (Everton)

18. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)

23. Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)

Defenders

2. Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

3. Carlos Bocanegra, captain (Rennes)

5. Oguchi Onyewu (A.C. Milan)

6. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)

12. Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)

15. Jay DeMerit (Watford)

21. Clarence Goodson (Start)

Midfielders

4. Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach)

7. DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers)

8. Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

10. Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

11. Stuart Holden (Bolton)

13. Ricardo Clark (Frankfurt)

16. Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

19. Maurice Edu (Rangers)

22. Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus)

Forwards

9. Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)

14. Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)

17. Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)

20. Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

ALGERIA

FIFA World Ranking: 30

Team Colours: All white with one grey sleeve and green trim on the shirts. Away kit is all green with thin vertical red and white stripes on most of the shirt.

Manager: Rabah Saadane, whose playing career was prematurely ended by a car accident at 27 years old, is now incredibly in his fifth spell as Algeria manager. He’s pretty much spent the entirety of his managerial career in the Algeria job but found time to win the African Champions League in 1989 with Raja Casablanca.

Form: Algeria’s qualification for the tournament was impressive at home but unconvincing away – which doesn’t bode too well for their trip to South Africa. They won all six games at home in the final two qualifying phases but finished deadlocked with Egypt at the end, necessitating an atmospheric tiebreaker match in neutral territory, which Algeria won. Their Africa Cup of Nations campaign went OK, starting with a terrible 3-0 loss to unfancied Malawi, but recovered to reach the semi-finals, where Egypt exacted revenge to put them out. They lost to Nigeria in the third-place playoff. They were roundly humiliated by the Republic of Ireland, who really should be here instead of France, losing 3-0 in a friendly last week, and do not look entirely ready to make a fist of this group.

Captain: 32-year-old defensive midfielder Yazid Mansouri is the most experienced member of the Algerian squad, having made his debut in 2001 and earning 65 caps since. He played briefly on loan for Coventry City in 2003 but had his contract terminated when he left to play in the Cup of Nations without his club’s permission. He doesn’t score or get forward much, and isn’t a particularly gifted player, but his experience will be important if this squad are to force their way out of the group against the odds.

Key Man: Since joining Portsmouth in 2008, Nadir Belhadj has caught the eye in an otherwise uninspiring club side, with some exciting displays down the left-side as a defender or winger. He’s plenty willing to bomb forward in search of a cross or a shot but has a tendency to blow hot and cold. Algeria need him at his best as if he plays well he is a key attacking asset.

Man to Watch: Karim Ziani is a versatile player who primarily operates down the right side of midfield but can also be utilised as a second striker. His classy performances for first Sochaux and then Marseille in Ligue 1 earned him a move to German champions Wolfsburg last summer but he has struggled for games this season. With 52 caps he is one of the more experienced players in the Algerian side but he needs to score more goals, with only 4 for his national team.

Prediction: Algeria’s squad is shockingly inexperienced – it contains 6 players with just 1 international appearance, one with only 2, three more in single figures and one, defender Carl Medjani, with none at all. They also lack a prolific striker. It’s hard to see this somewhat ragtag bunch of players making a serious impact on the group, though they may have strong periods during games against England or the USA, it seems unlikely that they would be able to dominate entire games against the likes of those teams. Qualification for the round of 16 would be a really huge achievement.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Lounes Gaouaoui (ASO Chlef)

16. Faouzi Chaouchi (ES Setif)

23. Rais M’Bohli (Slavia Sofia)

Defenders

2. Madjid Bougherra (Rangers)

3. Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth)

4. Antar Yahia (Bochum)

5. Rafik Halliche (Nacional de Madeira)

12. Habib Bellaid (Frankfurt)

14. Carl Medjani (AC Ajaccio)

18. Abdelkader Laifaoui (ES Setif)

20. Djamel Mesbah (Lecce)

Midfielders

6. Yazid Mansouri, captain (Lorient)

7. Ryad Boudebouz (Sochaux)

8. Mehdi Lacen (Racing Santander)

15. Karim Ziani (Wolfsburg)

17. Adlene Guedioura (Wolves)

19. Hassan Yebda (Benfica)

21. Foued Kadir (Valenciennes)

22. Djamel Abdoun (Nantes)

Forwards

9. Abdelkader Ghezzal (Siena)

10. Rafik Saifi (Istres)

11. Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens)

13. Karim Matmour (Borussia Monchengladbach)

SLOVENIA

FIFA World Ranking: 25

Team Colours: White shirts with green trim and funky green zigzag pattern across the chest, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is green shirts with yellow trim and funky yellow zigzag pattern across the chest, green shorts, green socks.

Manager: Matjaz Kek was always more known for his leadership skills than his playing ability as a player and appeared just once for his national side, but has enjoyed more success as a manager. He spent six years at Maribor, the club he finished his career at, winning two Slovenian league titles. After spending a few months coaching the Slovenian under-15s and under-16s he was given the full national team job in 2007 and upset the odds by leading Slovenia’s charge towards qualification alongside eventual group winners Slovakia, both of whom put pre-qualifying favourites Poland and the Czech Republic into the shade. He’s done a really good job with a team nobody fancied to get here.

Form: Slovenia’s surprising qualifying campaign was built on defence, conceding only four goals (only the Netherlands conceded fewer, and they played two fewer games), and they were in the hunt for the automatic qualifying spot at the top of the table until the very last day. This included two wins over the group winners Slovakia. Their playoff against Russia was thrilling, with Russia quickly taking a two-goal lead before Nejc Pecnik scored a late goal which allowed Slovenia to dig deep in defence and snatch a one-nil home win to go through on away goals. They outclassed New Zealand 3-1 in a recent friendly but will need to be ready for sterner tests than that in this group.

Captain: Robert Koren was surprisingly released by his club West Bromwich Albion having played more games for them than any outfield player in the 2008/9 Premiership season and then helping them to promotion back to the big time this year, so he will see this tournament as an opportunity to sell his services as well as lead his country. A reliable central playmaker, Koren is one of his country’s most vital assets with the most caps (46) and the most effortless talent in the squad. He picks an excellent pass and has racked up plenty of assists.

Key Man: Milivoje Novakovic is at the peak of his powers. The 31-year-old Cologne striker has a superb record of 51 goals in 108 games for his club and scored five in qualifying. He is far and away this team’s most potent goal threat and at 6’4″, he will pose a serious aerial challenge for opposition defences.

Man to Watch: This could be the summer that 25-year-old goalkeeper Samir Handanovic really makes a name for himself. The young Udinese shotstopper was part of arguably the meanest defence in Europe through qualifying and has recently won himself a bumper new contract at his club alongside talismen like Fabio Quagliarella and Asamoah Gyan.

Prediction: Slovenia should not be taken lightly. Expect some determined defending in exactly the sort of way that England, for example, usually have serious trouble with, but a lack of squad depth in midfield and up front will probably tell for Slovenia in the end. They should pick up a point or two, and could definitely get a result against Algeria, but making it to the second round is unlikely.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Samir Handanovic (Udinese)

12. Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova)

16. Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam)

Defenders

2. Miso Brecko (FC Koln)

3. Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor)

4. Marko Suler (Gent)

5. Bostjan Cesar (Chievo Verona)

6. Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow)

13. Bojan Jokic (Chievo Verona)

19. Suad Filekovic (Maribor)

22. Matej Mavric (Koblenz)

Midfielders

8. Robert Koren, captain (unattached)

10. Valter Birsa (Auxerre)

15. Rene Krhin (Inter)

17. Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow)

18. Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa)

20. Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

21. Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem)

Forwards

7. Nejc Pecnik (Nacional de Madeira)

9. Zlatan Ljubijankic (Gent)

11. Milivoje Novakovic (FC Koln)

14. Zlatko Dedic (Bochum)

23. Tim Matavz (Groningen)