LiveBlog: England-Paraguay

[...] LIVEBLOG Follow the match highlights as they happen on the Paraguay vs. England LiveBlog and stop by to leave your thoughts and comments about the match [...]

what colour tops are the lads wearing today

I believe white. And Paraguay in the white and red stripes.

England – white

Paraguay – white and red stripes.

england r a great team- no problem in flattening paraguay- the only real threat is brasil. if both top their groups, will they meet before the finals, taking into account tat they win all matches till then?

When is kickoff in Germany?

2:30pm or 3:00pm?

guys, does any1 knows if here, at this site, we can watch a live game like on TV or its only statistics ?

ty

1500 CET?

Sorry Ibra, this is only live blog commentaries. No TV. You may want to look around a bit online before the game starts off for online video playback.

huh ?

i mean on website

ohh, well ty , il go look for some others site.

Game starts at 3pm german time

Thanks Jack! I think I accidently got my timings off by 1/2 an hour! :o

Gosh, this is going to be interesting.

So how’s everyone doing today?

http://www.worldcupwatcher.com/watch_england_paraguay_live.html

I personally haven’t tried it yet but many ppl have been telling me this is the place to go for online video of the games.

*Oh and I think first goal they get the whole english team will be doing the robot including the fans.

hey guys, any good f’ball anthems? pop/rock songs, i mean whats the current top f’ball related song in the UK.

I’ll state my prediction now:

2-1 to England.

Online video? Don’t you people have televesions?

3-1 England

Unfortunately, we are the misfits who don’t have TV’s or Radio’s or proper internet facilities.

Paraguay is a gritty team and will play rough and ugly… England 2-1 in a tough grinded out match.

You can check out all the schedules here:

http://www.LiveSoccerTV.com some good resources can be found also on the disucssion forum there.

Good Luck England!

Should be a good game. Paraguay is no pushover.

The weather today definately favors the Paraguayans.

Hey Ali. I’ll make sure to enjoy the match on my 32″ television with surround sound just for you. =)

:P Oh Bidemi! I’m so jealous right now! Don’t tell me you also have pizza!

If any of you need interpretation by way of soccer-as-a-second-language (or soccer as metaphysics, philosophy and first rites all in one) be sure to have a look at Candide’s Notebooks… http://pierretristam.com

Bob – I am drinking a cold, crisp Becks in your honour.

I like England 2 – 0 in this game, but like the Ecuadorians, the Paraguayans could surprise.

haha, no pizza I’m afraid. just good old toast and coke. strange combination isn’t it? i might order some pizza for the second half though.

This is expected to be an explosive match -

Can’t believe Paraguay isn’t wearing the lovely red and white stripes!

Toast and coke? It’s 9am here and i’m wondering about breakfast! :D

And so it begins! Vive Paraguay!

Any team can surprise.. Although both Ecuador and Paraguay are South American they have very different styles. Ecuador didn’t get a single red during qualification.. very disciplined team.. Paraguay is known for ugly tackles.. The chile – paraguay game a few years ago looked like more aof a rugby match :)

From what I’ve seen Paraguay still has to perfect the diving that Argentina is well known for. :p

I’m relieved Paraguay left the red stripes at home, myself. They baby blue is classier.

GOAAAAL.

The 1st goal is in – well done England

Well that was easy. Expect more of the same. Suddenly 2 isn’t looking quite enough at the moment.

Oh My! Was that a touch into the net by the captain of the Paraguay team?! Own net?!

I think the new balls FIFA has implemented are hexed like mad! 4-2 in the Germany match, 2-0 Ecuador match…own net within 2 mins?!

Paraguay is definately going to come back. England shouldn’t let up the pressure.

The keeper’s slide didn’t look that bad, but he must have pulled something fierce.

Wait a minute what happened to the keeper? Did he try to sabotage the game further more?

these new balls are a disgrace…. gone is all the skills…. its more like video game soccer….

I’m excited that this match is being delayed for an hour in my area for a local news show.

I’m really stoked about.

/sarcasm off/

Hey everyone! I’m watching this from Sydney Australia. Can’t wait for the Socceroos to play but it’s a good start by England in this game.

close call, too fast for the short guy to catch up

Paraguay looks terrible. not only do they score against themselves, their rear defense is in chaos and they seem tentative and passive. This could get ugly.

Hard to say Chayan. The balls are more aerodynamic and smoother and lighter apparently. So I’m guessing shots are alot easier now than with the old medicine balls of past. :p

Seems as if this game is only going to be played in half of the field

Two disasters within 10 minutes into the game for Paraguay. This is what bad luck is all about.

11:40 England awarded an indirect kick from inside the box. Wow that ref uses alot of hair cream. Beckham lines up over the ball. The backup keeper is crapping his pants. Lampard kicks it away harmlessly.

Oh Bob! Your comments are still fresh as ever! :D

I like England. Besides Paraguay being very bad (and I can’t understand that, since they have a very fair and equilibrated side), England is playing very well, the players are very well organized, strong midfield and defense.

It’s a shame Rooney it’s not there playing. I tthink England will be the serious game against us again, like was in 2002.

who won the grand prix?

I know 6am isn’t that early a start here on the US West Coast, but it took three tries before the ABC scorebar finally appeared at the bottom of the screen. My TV needs caffeine.

And so, apparently, does Paraguay. They’re looking as lost as Poland was yesterday.

I have no idea where BBC gets their statistics. Are they even watching the same game?

Possession of Ball:
England 56% vs 44% Paraguay

Eh?

Paraguay seems to be settling, but there’s no creativity to their attack. They have the talent to play much better.

England looks very good today – calm, excellent defense and totally dominating the time of possession.

22 mins: Frank Lampard has a poke from distance and the Paraguay keeper just manages to bring the ball under control. The much talked about new World Cup ball was turning a few tricks in the air.

Even the commentators in the BBC are wondering what is up with the new regulation balls.

well Ali Siddiqui ,

the new balls seem to favor the european teams with their aerial game…. it’s not going to help the latin american style of play, i.e. short passes being worked around with soft touches and ball control….

i think it is unfair….

Steven Gerrad got tackled I believe…serious? Of course not!

Hey Chayan,

I think I get it now. Yup, the latin players do seem to enjoy close passes and such and I think they were more comfortable with the heavier balls. I guess maybe they just weren’t prepared to be using the lighter balls for this kind of play. :(

Undoubtedly England not only benefits from the new ball design, but from the fact this is practically a home match for them. the ratio of supporters must be 100:1

Oh come on, balls are just excuses. “Oh my God, we didn’t won the cup , ball’s fault”.

Come on, if the guy’s good, he plays with even a coke can.

Hey there,

Anyone got a good link for a live audio stream of the game, we are stuck offshore china on a ship here but cant get anything.

True enough Roland. I’m guessing that the Paraguayan team is certainly intimidated by the fans and the unfortunate double disasters. Still no excuse for the poor defense they have.

Is the Paraguayan defense shoring up?

Claudio: spoken like a true Brazilian!

Ah love it.

I have to agree with Bob…I’m spoilt from yesterday with the deluge of sudden goals and upsets. I think the Paraguayan coach should just book those early tickets to go back home. :(

What’s up with the dead spots on the pitch? Don’t they have time to resod the field?

^Those dead spots are shame spots.

England looks solid. but they should look harder for their 2nd goal. 1 goal is no difference in a WC

Dangerous free kick here.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5061056.stm

Those pictures of the English attendance sure do look intimidating to me.

Okay–they’re only showing the second half of this game where I am. WTF?

Plus, they’re showing a brief piece on the WC, in which they mention the 1968 World Cup. Someone, please shoot me now.

I am getting sick and tired of that ball discussion.It is the lamest and oldest excuse in the history of Football.

LOL! That’s another reason not to watch sports on Canadian television especially about the WC.

42:52 Beckham with a shot that goes just wide. Prince William and der Kaiser are smiling. They aren’t sweating. Does royalty ever sweat or are they genetically immune from that?

I’m guessing it’s the blue blood…or the frigid ice water that is put in them every morning. O_o

The famous final of the 1968 World Cup. We all remember that one hahaha.

Ali: Wait for the Soca Warriors’ supporters! Look for the Red, White and Black :)

England’s defense is solid but not quite stifling. But as others have pointed out, they shouldn’t rely on one point.

Paraguay has the players to make this interesting (many play in Europe) but it looks like their forwards have cement in their shoes today.

Right now, however, my 2 – 0 prediction is still on track…

Oh man, England dodged a bullet there!

I think if I was the pysio doctor for the Paraguyuan team I’d be popping out a few of those energy bars and drinks.

C’mon, bring on the Crouch-a-troooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnn

Valdez is not to bad a striker. If Paraguay should score my guess is he will be the one.

Don’t worry Stacy-Marie! I’m gonna be all over that game! :D

If England does win this I hope the whole team busts into the Robot in a line.

I expected at least 1 goal by Paraguay. Its such a disappointing game. Hopefully they will live my dream in the second half?

NOT FAIR.. one loser on a great team (paraguay)….

Gotta win now!!

Knowing the history of the English side they usually burn up sometime in the 2nd half in tough matches like against Brazil in 2002. However, against Paraguay right now it’s hard to tell. Paraguay may still get a chance with Valdez.

paraguay needs a couple of midfield guys with fresh legs and air in their lungs. Acuña for example is nailed to the floor.
insist, if england doesn’t score another one, they’ll suffer until the last minute.
but anyway they look better than germany yestarday.

Yeah, Paraguay is also disappoint me. I’d expect a draw, I think. Or maybe it’s just England that got their sh!t together.

From this display, I don’t see what all the media hype is about. There defense if very, very error prone. Against a more inventive side, there will be many chances against them. In other news, Beckham has to be the player of the game so far. He’s playing very well. It’s a pity Gerrard and Terry underpeform for England. I could see them getting to the Finals if they play to their potential.

I think the Paraguay team bus arrived 15 minutes into the game. But even after they got there, they’ve still struggled to set the pace.

BLEAH! MUSBERGER!

I just can’t help but think what would have happened if there wasn’t that own goal in net. Would we still be seeing a match where Paraguay is giving England a run for their money?

Decent performance from England in the first half. The heat will tell in the second and will be to the Paraguayan’s advantage.

An early second half goal will be a great help. Come on England!

there’s more action in the canadian tire commercials at halftime than in this game. seriously.

Zzzzz. It’s 7am, is it time for a beer yet? I’m a bit shocked at the English long-ball routine, thought we would see better than that. Off to drink more coffee.

Oh, and in my head Peter Crouch = Barty Crouch, a Harry Potter character. They’re sort of the same person, right?

P.S. Blogger Bob is my hero. Any sort of scoring and I expect some robot from you, young man.

My pregame prediction was England by 1 (1:0) and so far it is holdingup.

After being lucky to score a goal, England has not done anything interesting. Their defense did not make any significant mistakes, but isn’t an impenetrable fortress.

Paraguay is not playing well at all. They can hardly put a string of decent passes together anywhere in the vicinity of the England net. One dangerous moment in 45 minutes of play.

Zzzzzzzzzz

I am ecstatic that England scored but the game really has gone to a thud since the first 3 minutes. I want a game like germany v costa rica

I think they will get their heads into the game after they chew out the Captain in the locker rooms. Imagine the screams emanating from there?

Can anyone give me a link where I can get the BBC radio stream. I am bored listening to this American commentators.

There was no highlight at first half, but the own goal is a surprise.

Give me more Cole, less Crouch. The latter seems to be negatively affected by a feather, a slight breeze, an off-hand comment. Cole and Beckham, both a joy to watch. Paraguay’s wasting their chances; I’d say it’ll end with a drowsy 2-0.

No such luck there Adivas. BBC is only streaming it live on audio for UK Broadband subscribers. :(

BBC England V Paraguay Audio Page

It seems Paraguay have put the first half behind them. They are playing with determination now. Good defence from England too.

Dear ABC: Do we really need graphics that take up 40% of the screen? Especially ones telling us that Paraguay has been an independent country since 1811?

Yup they gave their captain a good chewing and are now rollin’ for a goalin’!

Kahn would win in any cage match. One angry German nicknamed Robocop is enough to make me think twice.

Try this link here and go to channel 3.

Maybe non uk residents can listen to the match online there.

Not sure.

Paraguay is really uptempo right now. England is already starting to play a bit kill-the-clock.

no one is keen to score !

This weather should be in Paraguay’s advantage just looking the pictures of the salt stained shirts of the English players is enough to prove that this maybe the time for a comeback.

anyone watching the broadcast through Univision in the US? Chilavert is the color analyst for this match. great insight from him so far.

dw,
Try univision. My Spanish is not that good, but,
1) The picture’s brighter
2) The announcers are REALLY into the game.
3) The audio’s better. You can really hear the crowd.

ABC’s a bunch of old farts.

why is Owen being taken off ?

I’m so tempted to take a nap…but I wouldn’t forgive myself if ever Paraguay got a goal.

first +ve move in 2nd half by England

I’m guessing with all that Beer consumed before the game the fans are feeling the affects of dehydration and a drowsy game.

Paraguay had a great chance there !

58:02 England playing 9 behind the ball and Paraguay is not helping the matter by dunking passes out of bounds. The score is still 1-0 in favor of England. If you’ve missed the game to this point you’ve missed me drinking two beers and that’s about it.

**I wonder Bob, were they any good?

Keyser, you’re right, Acuna is nailed to the floor. I’ve watched him with Deportivo and usually there’s more spring in his step. The Paraguayan attack is doing nothing to surprise a competent but otherwise ordinary defense.

Paraguay just blew another golden opportunity. But at least they seem to be loosening up and attacking more than they did in the first half.

Darkoze — thanks for the tip! Much better picture on Univision. And no more Musberger.

too much shadow on the field is spoiling the view…they should reconsider this time slot

im 13 and a girl and this match is bloody amazin!! COME ON ENGLAND!!!

England seem to be content with putting everyone behind the ball right now. They need to be more adventerous and less complacent in the 2nd half.

What’s with Paraguay’s almost-a-shot-on-goals! Can’t these fine fellows shoot low? They’ve missed at least 3 solid shots on goal.

Thanks England Blog. The Channel 3 is working.

Crouch yellowcarded

I’ve recently read Black Angel by John Connolly. Very interesting spin on conspiracy/thriller/murder mystery plot.

Best scoring chance for Paraguay so far. A couple more of those and this could get interesting…

^ Hey as long as the monitor doesn’t collapse…though the fireworks off that should be interesting.

Paraguay!
A shot on goal!
Someone must have let some air out of the ball.
Those balls? Does anyone out there think of giant band-aids when they look at the new design?

Ouch!

Pareides is a disgrace to football.

England’s doing a good job gumming up Paraguay’s ability to set anything up.

Crouch had better watch it or there won’t be any chance for a robot dance next game.

Really boring from here in Thailand. Para gonna score soon on these sleeping Brits.

Paraguay must start taking lessons in aggressive tactics.

Paraguay is on the verge of scoring a goal.

I just realized that a lot of Peter Crouch’s 6′7″ is his head. Is he from Easter Island or something?

Crouch is an abomination of sorts… :p

We still have a few good minutes to get a score under Paraguay’s belt. As long as they haven’t tightened it too much.

Who is going to watch Argentina vs. Ivory Coast? That’s going to be a furious encounter.

Paul Crouch looks like one of the guys in the Proclaimers. Without the glasses, of course.

Great save by Paraguay goalie

Beckham is having a hell of a game.

Hahaha! Nice one dw.

hey qatari guy which channel r u watching the world cup i need to see it

England better pick-up their game, otherwise……

Now that one thinks about it. Crouch is alot like one of those kids who grow up too fast and aren’t yet able to be comfortable or have any great control over their own appendages. Give him a few years and we’ll see.

cmn any day now dw

I think that last shot was the first time England’s really tried to score this half. The rest of their drives have been more run it into the other end to kill time.

Some signs of life from “El Toro.” If Acuna gets going he can create some chances.

someone ought to remind Paraguay that only 15 more mins remain

please dw answer me

The only ones who are playing well – Cole and Beckham…

It must be noted that PAREDES means WALLS in both portuguese and spanish.

I expected a lot more pressure from England by now. They’re letting Paraguay hang around…

Never said i’d say this but crouch is the best on the field. And that says a lot about the rest of england.

please dw can you tell me which channel aRE YOU WATCHING THE WORLD CUP I NEED TO SEE IT

Ok how many beers are you allowed?

Crouch reminds me of a b’ball player on the Philapdelphia Sixers, Shawn Bradley. He must have been 8 ft 10 inches tall when he raised his arms. He was useful when the ball got stuck on the rim iron. Other than that, he was a complete waste of time and money.
Why?
He had height but no aggrssion or dersire to use that height for good.

There was just a corner kick for England. Crouch stood in front of the goal like a Maypole. No jump, no movement. Jst a pole waiting for luck to have the ball hit him on the head. Give me a Joe Cole any day over one Crouch.

Time for a substitute!

please please dw tell me waaaaaaah

Crouch also looks like the classic model for an NBA lottery pick center — he’s getting drafted because he’s tall and not for much else. If he were an American he’d be languishing on the Clippers bench for $9M a year.

Ouch dw. I could almost imagine that lanky kid playing in the NBA.

I wonder if Bob you’ll need to be careful for Carpel Tunnel Syndrome with the way your typing!

Well he can dance though!!!

Joe Cole and Beckham have been the best players on the day.

Smart substitution for England. Cole has been running like a madman.

get parades offf

Univision. I’m not watching it on the net.

^Will it make a difference? I think they took him out just to start resting him up.

This is a terrible game. 1owngoal. And thats it. I cannot understand anyone saying that england is playing well against this very weak paraguayan side.

Wish I was watching I’m at work right now, thanks for the live coverage.

81;53 Hargreaves in for Cole for England. Did you know that Owen Hargreaves was born in Canada, plays in Germany and represents England at the World Cup? True story. Look it up on the Internet.

It boggles the mind!!

Back to reality, after yesterday’s games.

Surprised not to see England score today (for themselves that is).

…so far that is…

scrappy football !

God help the Queen if I end up finding out games will end like this. 1-0 own goals. @_@

Anyone out there think the USA has a chance?

Well, overall it’s a cold WC game. I expected more from Paraguay – looks like they left their South American guts at home.

Bob you missed the 4th official….Codji Coffia! (sp?)

He truly is a hero.

EEEEEENNNNNNGGGGGLLLLLLAAAAANNNDDDDD!!!!!!!!

Ali Siddiqui, what’s this “Internet” thing? Is it some kind of book?

From what I hear dw…it’s this new fangled gizmo kids these days use for sending emails and look up interesting sites! It boggles the mind!

At this rate England is going to loose against Sweden. What a lame performance. Well maybe Rooney will fix it.

Another great shot from Lampard.

What no Robot Dance?! Oh Come On!! BOOO HISS!!

ENGLAND OLE!

Great save for Paraguay. Still think it’ll be 2-0

Rooney will make a dif. for sure!!

Univision is the much better choice for games. I have no idea what they’re saying but I imagine it’s much less lame than the US commentators.

Wow, a shot! Muy bueno!

Rooney better be available soon, because I don’t see England beating one of the better sides in this tournament.

Huh. I’ll have to look into it. Is that like this “blogging” thing all the kids are going on about?

Of course it will end at 1-0 unless a miracle happened

You know what? England should be dominating this game. Paraguay is not playing well, yet the English can’t find the net. This does not bode well for them in the tourney.

Laura think the US stands a chance?

I say dw! You’ve certainly gotten the jist of it! TALLY HO LADS!

Roland I think they’re just not putting their all into it because well they have a goal…why waste energy getting another one in your first game? When you could use that energy for the bigger tougher opponents.

It’s over. God is merciful.

- Taking Owen off is a massive mistake. Crouch is too lonely..he can’t play in that formation period.

with effectively 5 midfielders…where were they in the 2nd half?

The ref must be from Paraguay..either that or he is mad.

Thank God it’s only T&T next…we can get our crap together

Roland your not in MOBILE are ya?

We’re saved! Time to order a pizza and hope to God that the T&T vs Sweden game will be good.

1-0.
Well….at least they didn’t collapse. A victory’s a victory; if they pass on to the next round, the result’ll be remembered, not the regretably unremarkable way they did it.

Negative Dino, I’m in South Floriduuuhhh.

It’s official 1-0 own goal! If only Paraguay didn’t suffer the embarrasment of having an own goal maybe we’d be having a more eventful game.

Ok I’m in Alabama cheers

Come on Group B–you can do better than that.

Let’s hear it for Sweden and T&T to get it going later.

Dino, Laura. Who cares about the USA. Not an overly exciting team. Solid, but boring.

Croatia’s the one to watch. Will they make it to the next round? Probably not in the group they’re in. But they’ll make things exciting although with their first game being against Brazil, they’ll probably be too busy getting autographs during the game to actually bother playing well.

Fingers crossed.

So glad I got up at 6am for this. I’m psyched for T&T though — if Sancho plays I get to start singing and scare the shite out of my parents.

Dino – I don’t make any predictions, I leave that to the experts at Worldcupblog.org. I am a proud owner of a Czech Republic scarf, though . . .

I’ll see all you LiveBlog ppl’s on the T&T LiveBlog soon in about 3 hours!

Pretty tough conditions though for england. 27 Degrees. Pretty tough.

Btw, thanks for taking the bullet for us Bob. I would have torn out my hair just watching this game. Yarrrrr.

Darkoze, Laura from what I’ve seen so far watchout for Spain!!! my prediction.

I agree, the US is boring to watch. That said, if either the Czechs or the Italians stumble, they could make some noise in the second round…

Again, well done bob! It was easier to read this match, than to watch it.

Yea txs Bob!!!

why wasn’t the referee wearing a blue shirt? seems that he was Paraguay’s 12th man

Thanks, Bob. Have one on my tab.

Dino I agree with you about Spain. If Raul or Villa can start to find the goal they will be VERY dangerous.

The Netherlands are another sleeper to watch. But Spain would be my dark horse pick this year. They’re loaded with a good mix of youth and experience.

England Man,
If the ref was wearing a blue shirt, he may have scored another own goal for….uhmmm., oh, yeah, for England.

T&T next gtg see ya my brothers later. Cheers!!!

Bob, soak those fingers in Palmolive and get ready for T&T. Thanks for the continuing awesome job.

P.S. Is the number of posts on a blog in reverse correlation to the quality of the game? Just wonderin’.

Well it seems England isn’t the invincible machine that the press makes them out to be.

1) Thanks Bob. I like the job you’re doing
2) If Paraguay doesn’t order 23 copies of ‘Offensive football for dummies’, they’ll be back home after 3 matches. What a dissapointment. I’d pay to listen what Chilavert has to say about this match.
3) England looked like the germany of the 80’s. Dreadful matches, no creativity, almost at half power, but they always got away with a 1-0 win. English defense looked solid, but I’d like to see it facing more serious teams.
Hope some channel will broadcast T&T-SWE in this country

Dave O’Brien and Marcelo Balboa are are plainly idiots. Agreed: David Beckham didn’t have a stellar match, but he scored the lone goal versus (the heinously vicious) Paraguayan side and had a reasonably good match working the right flank whilst having his legs kicked out from under him, and for the duration of the match Balboa is all over his butt for “not getting involved” and “not wanting the ball.” I wasn’t watching the same match.

And the Mexican referee, Marco Rodriguez, called the match as though he had personally experienced a lifetime of oppression at the hands of British colonialism or, more likely, associated the English indissolubly with the Americans. The thuggish play of Reggina midfielder Carlos Paredes – moreover, a well-known thug at that, who was sent off with two cards in 22 minutes four years ago in a group match against Slovenia, the fastest ejection in Cup history – went unnoted by Rodriguez, who treated Paredes like a brother-in-law. Needless to say, Balboa could only talk about Paredes’ incessant dives and writhing on the turf.

Indeed, the broadcast team needs to be sent off, but there’s no such hope. The networks do this every Cup – select a play-by-play announcer who has memorized the vocabulary and the little “up close and personal” stories – Heaven forfend! – but but has no – none, zero, zip, nadie – understanding of the game, can’t tell the difference between a reasonably good speculative play and an abysmal one, uses US sports metaphors to make his calls, and simply misunderstands all aspects – but particularly the temporal and spatial ones – of the game. And then, as the coup de grace, team such an ignoramous up with a popular US player to do color, someone who knows the game and the players but who has absolutely no expressive flair and who repeats himself incessantly. If Balboa mentioned one more time that “you don’t want to get a yellow card” or “Crouch doesn’t want that second yellow card,” I was going to throw my TV off the deck. That plus his constant musing about “who wants the ball” and who doesn’t rendered the audio a exercise in pure tedium.

Surely there’s someone out there who can do a more credible job. (But, please, not Tommy Smith.)

If Italian is the language of love and English is the language of literature and French is the language of….of….of snobbish intellectualism wrapped in a croissant of prior colonial power civil service, then Spanish is the language of football.

Viva Univision!

See you in 30 minutes for T&T – Sweden.

Can anyone tell me why England looked so uninspired?it was more like Test match cricket than world cup soccer…..dont think they will go much far if they continue playing like this..

Crouch up front on his own? What the hell?

I also think the hot weather got to the England players a bitmore in the second half. Taking Owen off was almost a disastrous decision, there was barely any English players in the Paraguay half at one point. Great first half by England, some excellent efforts by Lampard.

England…
Very impressive in the first half, then very poor performance in the second half.
Improvement will be needed the further we go.

a thoroughly uninspiring performance by England…God is merciful..it lasted only 90 mins

And would the Beckham free kick been a goal in any event, without the deflection? I think so.

This game could only be describe as “boring”. I really hate to say this considering the amount of media hype and no lack of bite on the pitch. Amazing, isn’t it?

I kept asking myself “Is this the team the media had labeled ‘Champs’ before the ball was ever kick?” The problem (as in most tornaments Eriksson had managed England) played with too much caution. This gives initiative to the opponents to attack.

Without being too negative, they still won which keeps them in the game. The first half of the game was good in any case but a top team would have left a bad taste in all of our mouths.

England is business as usual. Problem is the shop is shut and we can all go home. Very poor performance, bettered only by Paraguay’s even poorer showing. England’s team is lacking a lot of basic football ingredients, such as speed, creativity, individual brilliance and skill. Beckham is a dead ball artist and not much else. England go home!!

I agree with Terry T. about the commentators being complete idiots. I had a hard time trying to watch the match with them babbling on about random tidbits of information and never truly getting into the game or understanding what was going on. The highlights of their commentary include when they mistakenly called England, Germany, and how they talked endlessly about how Beckham is such a big celebrity and what not.

I think next time I would rather watch the Spanish broadcast, even though I don’t understand it, I would rather listen to their incessive and excited rambling to their lame and clueless commentary

England was very lucky to get 1:0 and if they will not perform better in the next games they will… end like they are already used to.

england? they keep on living on the past glories and still talk and talk about bobby moore blah, blah…..they might make it to third place and with some luck they might even get to play the final but, england will not defeat brazil, not with the team brazil has and certainly not with the team england has.

From what I see. England deserve to win BUT what’s up with second half? English get cocky and lack concentration. History do repeat itself mind the English. Everytime they score a goal, that’s it.. no more steam from the squad. Last world cup saw England ousted by the brazilian because of that. England have to do better than that to even dream of getting into the final. Half hearted football is bad, sloppy football even worst.

And what’s up with the referree? I think they should be called up for enquiry. Possible match fixing from what I see. Bad Calls one too many.

What time was this game played?

go england go!

The officiating was dubious, the fouls gratuitous, but England did itself no favors with such uninspired play. The Paraguayans were ripe for the crushing today, but the Lions seem to still be finding their form. I expect them to pick it up, but if they don’t they might slip to second in the group.

The Referee was over zealous. Eager to book over pedantic and ever willing to demonstrate his hegemony. Forgetting he was there becuase of the players and not the other way round.

Tactically, it’s no different from what we have seen from Erikson in the past. What is surprising to me is the excessive cuation by the players who we know can play far better.

For me, three players stood out. Gerrard, Joe Cole and Valdez for Para. Others disappointing. They need to re-appoint with the basics of the game. – Verdict from London.

if the team plays the world cup like they did in the first half i can see england getting real far in the world cup…especially with a player like david beckham on their side

can’t wait!

finally they did it

I too will start switching to Univision. The only word I understand is Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolbut that is a lot better than the piss poor commentary by the US announcers. I think 4 years ago the announcers compared a long pass to Montana and Clark. When did the 49ers. take up soccer? No wonder I don’t watch the MSL.

England just scraped through 1-0 against Paraguay, when it expected a far better score excuses had to be made, but to blame the weather is a bit rich. David Beckham agreed with Eriksson “you don’t realise how hot it was out there, we were exhausted”. I suppose it wasn’t hot for Paraguay, only England felt the heat. The weather excuse is as old as Methuselah – unacceptable. Try another one Beckham.

Eh allyuh should stop talkin bad about meh country England home of Dwight Yorke.Dwightee will win it for England

Hey the football game between Paraguay and England was an anticlimax.I want see one which starts good and ends the same way.

Yes this game could have been much 4-king better.