Now it really is must win for England

Written by James Beckett Thursday, 17 June 2010 18:28

England World Cup Blog

Last week on A2B World Cup, we debated whether England's opening game of the World Cup was must win. Well after Saturday's disappointing draw with them lot from across the pond, it really is a case of must win for England against Algeria in Cape Town.

Capello and his players will know this, anything but a win and England would face a real struggle to qualify from Group C, and I for one hope that England go out tomorrow night and take the game to Algeria.


We did this for about 10 minutes against the USA, and then for some reason after a positive start, we just sat bank and allowed pressure to build. To be honest I think we would have struggled to hold out for three points, even if Rob Green had kept Clint Dempsey's shot out.


To England's credit, they looked much better in the second half, and Capello now needs to find a way to keep that level of performance up for 90 minutes against the African side. If he can, I see no reason why England can't comfortably win by three or four goals.

This would obviously be a very pleasing outcome for England, but the ideal scenario for Capello would be an England win by more then one goal, coupled with Slovenia picking up a point against the USA. This would mean that England would only have to draw with Slovenia in their final group game to top the group.


This must be the number one goal for England going in to the second round of group games, because by finishing second in the group, a mouthwatering clash with Germany would probably await.


In truth Germany are the only side that have actually impressed me so far in South Africa, and I would hope to avoid them for as long in the tournament as possible. Yes you can't win a tournament without beating big sides, but it certinaly easier if you don't meet them to the later stages.


But for now, really the job is simple for England, win tomorrow. Do that and there is no reason why we can't top Group C, let alone qualify. Don't win tomorrow, and prepare for a nail-biting day next Wednesday as England look to scrape through in to the last 16.

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