England 1-0 Ecuador

I've rarely been more frustrated watching a game.

We started brightly and thought this could finally be the game where we find our feet and pass the ball around with the confidence I knew we should be doing.

The team, save Rooney, looked jaded even considering he had chuff all support for most of the game.

Ashley Cole did himself proud and Joe Cole looked burnt out. But on the hour David Beckham slotted home a trademark free-kick. And thank fook for that!

I spent the rest of the match wrestling with the missus to get off me, hearing the occasional mutterings of John Motson between the cries of "you don't love me anymore". She's more of a Lee fan than an England one - who can blame her the.

At the moment look like they're fighting to get into their stride. They really want to perform but are combating against the heat - hopefully they'll meet the Dutch in the next round who are more suited to their style of play. Seeing the Portuguese and the pace of Ronaldo could prove an issue for our troubled right-back position. Hopefully Neville will be able to restrict the effectiveness of his Utd team-mate.

It's comedy hour ...

Why communism, women and football should never mix!!!

Come on! Who thought this was a good idea? I'm sure she'll end up on some Graham Norton production some time before Christmas, either that or she'll be the female lead in the next James Cameron film!

Who said it was better at the stadium?

... Wake me up before the game starts!

Nice little inspirational video

Come on the lads!! Let's hope the mecurial wonder kid performs against Ecuador!!

Another Win, and getting better (slightly)

He looks like that contraption from the Spiderman film. But he gets in the right place at the right time!

Two goals in the last seven minutes made hundreds of journalists to scrap their reports - and thank f*** for that! I was saying to a mate as game was stagnating that we'll have to brace ourselves for the pure drivel that the media will be coming out with. Still a win, with two very good goals will not stop the doom-mongers from crying "the end of the World (Cup) is nigh".

I'd prefer England be mediocre at the beginning and improve than be great and get worse.

We've got the six points we need, and now we need to make sure we get Ecuador in the Next round. If both us and Germany win then that'll be the outcome. Even if we lose to Sweden we'll be going through, but will probably face Germany on Saturday 24th.

Whatever happens, we won't have the unions and employers arguing about time off for workers as the matches will be on the weekend. And even better if we do win Group B and beat whoever in the next round, the match after that will be on a Saturday, if we come second, then win, then the match will be on Friday 30th at 4PM! I can see bickering about manning the phones starting already!

Still not made it down the pub!

Ok, so I've been too damn busy to make it down the pub to watch the footy. My local is football made. I can tollorate it being full of home-sick scousers, but can someone please remind me what its like to be cramed into a bar when the been-pole scores?

Don't plan on winning the world cup next time

I'm sure he's got English parents ;-) He's called Kerlon and he's obviously Brazilian!

XBox 360 World Cup Bundle

We're trying to find the best places to get the XBox 360 World Cup Bundle or the Official 2006 FIFA World Cup Game So this is what we've got so far.

World Cup Xbox 360 Console Bundle
Amazon - £249.99

2006 FIFA World Cup Germany
Gameseek - £43.97

Free England Mobile Phone

We've found out that Mobile Shop are offering an England World Cup Mobile Phone. You get it in a nifty Cross of St. George box with a grass-effect interior, and an England neck-strap.

The best thing about this offer, is that it is available with 12 months completely free line rental (after redeeming cashback) on three attractive O2 tariffs (O2 100, O2 250 & O2 Leisure Time) so the net cost to the you is £0 over the whole year. What a bargain!

Other England Freebies.





The official mobile phone of the England team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™

This sleek, black, compact slider showcases the Three Lions logo on the back of the phone and is pre-loaded with exclusive downloads including: Start-up and switch-off animations, Three Lions and England shirt wallpapers and video clips of classic England goals. This special limited edition England handset will be provided to the England squad to keep in touch "Back Home".

It is available Free from T-Mobile.

World Cup Free Stuff

I'm trying to create a list of free stuff. So here goes:

uSwitch are offering you a free World Cup Football when you switch your gas/electricity supplier - this could also be as well as saving over £170 on your bills.

MBNA are offering a free England Shirt when you get an Official FA Credit Card

England4U are offering a free England Car Flag with every order.

Also a free England Mobile Phone.

Thanks Guys!

Well the Soca Warriors did us proud. It'll be a lot easier to qualify top of the group as Trinidad & Tobago battled for a well-earned draw.

Dispite having John sent off seconds into the second half. T&T fought hard for the point and certainly supprised many people.

The match this Thursday should prove to be a harder contest than many had imagined.

Hopefully with the later kick-off, our lads should be less drained in the second half and be able to perform through-out the game.

Come on Trinidad & Tobago

Lets hope the Soca Warriors can do us a favour and get a decent result against Sweden in their first World Cip.

I'm a big fan of Dwight York and rate Shaka Hislop as a pretty decent keeper. I'd be more than happy with a 0-0. So fingers crossed!

England 1 - 0 Paraguay

Well we could have definitely played better. Rio was great, Gerrard fantastic but the other's fairly inconsistent.

Neville didn't have a good game, but it's the first match and the lad's should gel for the next game.

At the end of the day, we've got the three points which would bring the pressure of Wayne Rooney sitting on the bench down a notch or two.

We should get another three points against Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday. Next we just have to make sure we finish exactly where we want to in the group.

A Prediction

This Wayne Rooney thing is going to get intense, I can feel it. I think that we're going to have a forward sent off or something and that'll bring the press out shouting for Rooney's return.

As a Utd fan I just hope that Wayne isn't called on until its absolutely necessary! Come on Crouchy be a good lad and not get yourself sent off!

Bye Bye Motty

I'm so glad the Beeb has given us the ability to choose our own commentary when watching on digital. I must be the only person in the UK that get's wound up by Motson's commentary.

The stupid comments and the laughs to himself combined with that sound he makes after he laughs just send's shivers down my spine!

So thank God, I can choose to listen to Five Live whilst I watch.

Why can't we have a South American style commentator that inserts a bit of passion into the match commentary?

The Referee's a ****er

That's what we normally shout when decisions go against us. But so far I can't really fault Marco Rodriguez.

He may look like run's dodgy clubs on the Costa's but at least he sticks to the rules. It really winds me up when commentators say that referees should apply common sense, if someone breaks the rules then the laws of the game stipulate what should happen. Just because a player has just been on the pitch a couple of minutes it doesn't mean they've lost the ability to count. When Bobadilla held on to the ball longer than the six seconds that the rules stipulate than an indirect free kick should be given.

Just because English referees seem to ignore the rule, it doesn't mean the foreign ones do too. Well done Marco.

It's only half time so let's see if I'll live to regret those comments.

Get Off Me - We're Gonna Score

So, they say women are always right? Well the missus was going out to the garden to sunbath and clambered onto me asking me to rub oil into her body. Ok, so she's extremely fit. She has a fantastically toned body, but come on ... Beckham with the ball at his feet and a free kick a few minutes in. I shouted "get off me, we're gonna score". That started world war three, but who cares we scored!

Some people just don't know priorities in life!

England V Paraguay

Come on the lads!

England's first match in World Cup 06 is against Paraguay. We go into the game full of belief that we can start the campaign with a win.

I doubt Rooney will play dispite the media loving the alleged spat between Sven and Sir Alex. My view is cut the crap and get on with it.

You can see the match live on BBC One from 12:40. You can also watch the game live on BBC Big Screens.

The expected team is:
Robinson
G Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, A Cole
Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, J Cole
Owen, Crouch

Official England Credit Card

Support your team in the World Cup with the Official England Credit Card.



Details of the Official England Credit Card

World Cup Soundtracks

We've collected some of the best albums from Amazon. But you can also try CDWOW, Play.com.

The Official Album of the 2002 Fifa World Cup ~Various Artists
Special Marketing (Audio CD)
June 3, 2002



Goleo 6: 2006 Fifa World Cup Hits [Import] ~Various Artists (Artist)
Universal International (Audio CD)
June 6, 2006



Is This the Way to the World Cup [Single] ~Tony Christie
Gut (Audio CD)
May 29, 2006


Stan's World Cup Song [Single] ~Stan Boardman
Harkit (Audio CD)
May 29, 2006



Voices from the Fifa World Cup ~ Various Artists
(Audio CD - June 5, 2006)
Amazon Price: £12.99



World Cup Sing-a-Long ~ England Supporters Club
(Audio CD - March 27, 2006)
Amazon Price: £4.99