The Pluck of Wingate

Well I guess that’s that then.

What can you say, we were rather thumped really. Normally at this stage I’m stil gutted, angry and upset at our exit, but when it is as comprehensive as that then…It often feels like we’ve been robbed, a penalty shoot-out failure, a dodgy red, a winking Portugueser…but this time we just deserved to go out. Obviously there was the goal that never was. At halftime going in at 2-2 would have made the second half a whole different story. The woodwork proved a tad unbeatable. The German keeper also made a couple of really, really top drawer saves, he was ridiculously good. German keepers always are, and it rankles me to say that because until 2002 you could say the same about our glovemen. However, the Germans were just better than us. They exposed our complete lack of pace at the back and deserved the win. Even at 2-1 we should have given a better account of ourselves.

We were poor all tournament. When you look at the players who’ve done well then you can name them on perhaps two fingers. Ashley Cole confirmed that he is our most consistent performer, and David James came in under a heap of pressure and despite conceding 4 performed pretty darn well on the whole.

Not upset, just a trifle empty inside.

Enjoy the rest of the tournament fellows. It won’t be back on your continent for a while I’d wager. I’ll plump for Portugal (England’s oldest ally) as my next team. Shame they’ve drawn Spain.

Wingate

It has turned out fortunate for me today that destiny appointed Plymouth to be my birth place.

I grew up in a city built around a strong military tradition. Plymouth is a decent sized city on the south coast and is England’s second largest naval port, whilst it is also home to several units of marines and there is a MoD camp not far outside the city too. All in all, the signs of war are etched into my birthplace. Apart from monuments of Sir Francis Drake upon Plymouth Hoe depicting the man playing bowls before beasting the Spanish Armada, and the spirit of discovery with statues of greats like Grenville, Raleigh and Gilbert along the seafront, there is also another, much more striking note struck by the chimes of history. Plymouth was, by all accounts, absolutely flattened in World War Two by the Luftwaffe.

The legacy that the Germans had on the city was to set it back by 50 years. It was rebuilt in the 1950s on the cheap, leaving a soulless mass of concrete for the city centre. Only recently has this been amended. Charles Cross Church is still roofless and decrepid, sat in the middle of a roundabout, a historical landmark of times during the Blitz, a modern hindrance to motorists and those wanting to shop. The War Memorial stands tallest with the thousands of Plymouthian names etched onto it, a timeless reminder of suffering and sacrifice.

And what, you might ask, am I posting this on my blog for? How is this all relevant? Well, tomorrow sees England play Germany in the biggest game of the tournament so far (apart from perhaps the opening game?). Although we like to think we have moved on, there will always be that niggle created by past events between the two nations. Plymouth is just one city affected by the past, there are countless others on both sides of the channel setting similar examples.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not dislike present day Germans. On the whole, we’re over the bitterness, and it is mostly light-hearted banter these days (don’t mention the war!). The history of our nations does not mean that I’ll have an automatic disliking of Herr Klose, Herr Schweinsteiger and co. It’s just, well, I’d like to win this one. A lot.

This isn’t just football, although obviously it is only football. That probably doesn’t make sense so I’ll try to substantiate it. This is bigger than England playing, say, Holland. It means more.

Although England have barely convinced in getting out of the groupstage behind the USA, I still have us down as just about favourites for this one. Germany’s best player is the turk Ozil, and they are stronger than the outfits we have come across so far, but they lack anyone truly world class. I’d expect England to line up as they started against Slovenia with Milner on the right, James in goal and Defoe up top with Rooney. It’ll be a tight one either way. I’ve plumped for a 1-0 victory with John Terry getting the goal. I just hope it doesnt go down to penalties. Cmon lads, role on your finest hour, we’l fight them on safari, we’ll fight them on the High Veldt, yadda yadda ya…

Wingate

“I love argument. I love debate. I don’t expect anyone to just sit there and agree with me; that’s not their job.”

There has been plenty of scrutiny on the “battle of the hemisphere’s” recently and I thought I’d add my tuppence.

There are 5 major rugby nations playing the game, South Africa, Australia, England, France and New Zealand. Somewhere behind these are Wales and Ireland, whilst the likes of Scotland, Argentina and Italy would be upset not to beat Tonga, Fiji and Samoa, who in turn would generally beat the rest of the world.

Of the big 5, England are currently a bit of a shambles and playing at a level below themselves, South Africa and France are currently strong (I’ll excuse the French their last game), and the Australians are always exciting with their backs but always  have weaknesses in the pack. Only the All Blacks stand out. They are consistently in the top 2 in the world, and are generally considered the world number 1 and favourites for each tournament. So if we look at it one way, then we could say that the South has 3 of the top 4 rugger nations in the world right now. Whilst if we go for another perspective, the North has 6 of the top 10 nations. 

I wont go into the club rugby debate, it’s clear the S14 and the Heineken Cup are both excellent competitions although different in style, while domestically I’d put the English league as practically alone worldwide in terms of hard graft over a season (quality wise - not so much).

So yeah, back to North vs South. It’s clear to me that New Zealand set the South apart. Only when they fade will the North ever be able to say that they are the stronger hemisphere, even with SA and Australia still lurking about. Without NZ constantly being world class, the North could point to it’s overall depth as the reason why it is stronger. Of course, pride over how good one’s hemisphere is nonsense, if we could arrange a hemisphere vs hemisphere clash then it might all be a bit more relevant. But there you go.

Wingate

PS Put yourself a few Sterling down on Johnno’s boys on Saturday. We’ll maintain scrumtime dominance, hopefully perform better across the rest of the park (we couldn’t perform worse), and a non-match fit Giteau’s return will upset the rhythm of the Australian backs.

This fuss over the Vuvuzela horn of the locals of the southern tip is all a bit distracting from the real issue at hand, the football. It reminds me somewhat of a similar situation in cricket; the fuss created by the Members at Lords not allowing Indian/Pakistani cricket supporters to bring their horns into the Home of Cricket. One can understand the Lords trying to preserve a spot of civility at HQ, and that is certainly their right to do so. However, when the ICC banned/outpriced the West Indian calypso bands on their own patch during the 2008 ODI World Cup, the atmosphere all became a trifle forced and the fun was sucked from the whole tournament.

The vuvuzela is an annoying part of South African football, but for the sake of creating a unique atmosphere to remember in SA2010, it’s presence must be allowed to continue. Many countries will bring drums with their fans, even England have their own tedious band, and I only really expect the vuvuzela to be most vocal during games involving South Africa. Certainly in England’s case, I’d expect fans from the UK to drown out the horns, likewise during games involving the Dutch and the Germans.

It’ll be interesting to see the reception God Save The Queen gets from the locals. Generally it is well respected throughout the world for rugger and cricket (where applicable), but football fans tend to be cut from a different cloth. Within the sports of the Empire there tends to be something of a healthy sporting rivalry between sides like England, SA and Australia, but with football, I’m honestly not so sure it’ll be the case.

The USA are another to keep a wary eye on. The lack of respect they’ve shown through history would rile even the sanest Englishman, let alone a hot-headed oik like Wayne Rooney. We are afterall, their oldest and most original foe. Nowadays they consider us their oldest ally, such fickleness befitting of a nation built on a whim. Of course, our staunchest allies will always be Portugal, and our enemies will always be France and Catholic Spain. We quickly got over the Boston Tea Party as we looked elsewhere for overseas riches; India was a much worthier gain. I’m not so sure the Americans got over it as quickly. Their search for an identity defines them. Football is the only global game they really play as a nation (besides the Olympics-a tradition we ought to have left with the Ancient Greeks), and still their most famous result was the 1-0 upset against England in 1950.

As England’s first opponents, they are a handy enough side. They lack any truly World Class talents, but in the likes of Donovan, Howard and Dempsey they have a core of mid-table Premiership players who can upset the bigger nations on their day. They are a dangerous and tricky foe, do not expect them to play possession football, but they’ll be fit and willing, well organised and even plucky. They’ll defend well from set-pieces, which tends to be a strength of England, so we’ll have to find another way to break them down. Even if they do not get a result against England then I’d put them in as favourites against the Algerians and the Slovenes to take 2nd place in the group.

Only a day away chaps, and the anticipation within me is rising!

Wingate

…middle order!

Chaps, just a quick update on Bangladesh;

They’ve unearthed an exciting opening bat called Tamim Iqbal who has been putting England’s bowlers to the task with an array of strokeplay. They have a spinner named Shakib with seven 5-wicket hauls in test cricket already to his name at 23 years old (check out his dismissal of Ian Bell yesterday).

In the first test, at one point late on the 4th day it looked as though they would be able to set England a tricky 250 on the last day, though a couple of late wickets saw them end up 100 ahead with 5 down at close. The inevitable collapse ensued and England comfortably knocked off the 150odd required. Nevertheless, it was still a great test for the side who is yet to scalp a major nation and was expected to lose within three days.

Yet Bangladesh will not beat England in a Test in the next 5 years at least. Although individually they do have a couple of gems, as a unit they are poor. They’ll have good sessions and even the occasional good day where they come out on top, but they do not have any seam bowlers of note, and the tail seems to begin at 4. Even without the rested Collingwood or Broad, who would be among the first two names on an England team sheet in any format of the game, England will likely close out a victory today.

If Bangladesh are to improve, then they need to find a Arjuna Ranatunga type figure to lead them in the field and bat sensibly through the middle order, providing a bit of grit and pluck. I’m convinced they have similar talent depth to a nation like New Zealand and can build a side around Iqbal in particular, they just need others to believe that they can step up to the plate. Until they do, the bigger sides will use the Bangers as a chance to experiment ahead of bigger obstacles. Shahzad bowled well yesterday albeit at the tail, and Morgan has had a couple of good starts.

Wingate