World Cup Squad

So its getting close to the game against Paraguay and this week we've had the World Cup Squad handed down from on high by Sven.

Provisional squad:

Goalkeepers : Robinson (Tottenham), James (Manchester City), Green (Norwich);

Defenders: G Neville (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea),

Midfield Beckham (Real Madrid), Carrick (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham),

Forwards: Rooney (Manchester United), Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Walcott (Arsenal).

Standby: Carson (Liverpool), Young (Charlton), Reo-Coker (West Ham), Defoe (Tottenham), Johnson (Crystal Palace).

So there you have it nine midfield players - why Hargreaves and Jenas are going instead of Nigel Reo-Coker is beyond comprehension and look at the forwards, two injured players and a 17 year old who Arsenal haven't played in the Premiership. Why no Darren Bent or Dean Ashton.

As I said on the BBC UK News Board, Alf Ramsey abandoned the idea of playing with wingers and Sven has abandoned the idea of playing with forwards!

The good news is that if we get through our group, and lets' face it we've been given a bye by including Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden, we will play either Poland or Germany before meeting Argentina in the Semi-Finals.

Curiously the World Cup draw has a touch of the Wimbledon Tennis Draw about it, with the top half including: England, Germany, Holland and Argentina appearing weaker than the bottom half where they have Italy, Czech Republic, Brazil, and Spain.

So perhaps forty years of hurt will finally come to an end.

And whilst we are on the subject of the World Cup, what is it with all those flags? Have we reached the stage where our national feeling of self worth is measured by bits of plastic painted white and red? There must be a correlation between the number of flags, the lower the I.Q and the longer the arms of the drivers who put these flags on their vehicles.