World cup predictions

Every world cup that I have watched since 1986 has had a similar pattern to this one – massive, almost painful anticipation, followed by a nail-biting first round where we proceed despite not deserving to – and then on to a knock-out round where the tension gets unbearable. I am less optimistic than I have been in the past, but I think that’s more down to the way I got excited about the World Cup around 2 years ago rather than the facts on the ground. So I thought I would have a look at what the fine upstanding members of the press were thinking.

The good

Thankfully, many members of the press are optimistic. Oliver Holt in the Mirror is ready for action: “The England we all know is hiding in there somewhere. And there is another England. There really is. A different England to the one that has crawled through the competition on its hands and knees so far. There is an England that could yet be a threat in this World Cup if they can just begin to play to their potential against Portugal here this afternoon.”

The bad

Other commentators are playing it safe by being the ultimate pessimists. Roy Collins on the Telegraph blog is a good example. “How can [Sven] think England can win the World Cup playing such dross?” he writes. Going on, he says: “If he fails to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament again, he will have betrayed the country's so-called generation with his negative tactics.”

The miserable

There is still a lot of miserable football professionals determined to knock the team come what may. They are of course joined by people who don’t know anything about football at all – you know the people, they shout “we’re shit” every time a pass goes slightly astray, and complain that we aren’t 5-0 up at halftime. David Lacey in the Guardian is one of these miseries. He thinks we will do well, but “On the whole England teams do not do performances”. David Bond over at the Telegraph is singing from the same misery sheet: “On the evidence of England's performances here so far, there is no great cause for optimism.”


I have predicted 2-0 for the world cup predictors, but seeing as I currently lie 11th out of 14, don't read too much into that.