For Us

I admit it - I am a shameless England fan.

Ever since I saw England painfully lose the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup to a boring German side through a penalty shootout where Stuart Pearce missed the decisive kick, I have been hooked on rooting the Three Lions on in tournaments.

This year sees manager Sven-Goran Ericksson joining a list of previous managers such as Bobby Robson and Terry Venables as an outgoing manager after a major tournament. Ericksson's contract terminations comes with little surprise as besides coddling the team through a see-saw ride of form, he has spent plenty of his resources chasing secretaries and swinsuit models. Granted that he looks like the stereotypical mad/maniacal/'ham sap' professor suggests that Eriksson has a propensity to do the impossible.

With the Kevin Keegan howler period firmly behind, Swede Eriksson arrived in 2001 without the backing of the patriotics but with plenty of promise. The impossible he did not do but he did managed to yank Beckham from his wardrobe long enough to make him captain and turned England into a more attractive looking side, football-wise.

In the last decade, England has had a pretty decent squad. While peers such as Germany struggle with constipation in trying to crap out a new generation of footballers, England has had an abundance of world class under the 'uncle' age of 30.

The fact that this World Cup is staged in Europe, the squad that England has and their peers struggling to find their shape, 2006 may be Beckham's best shot wearing the pants around the house again. Or he might call his next child Frankfurt (insert sausage jokes here).

England needs to win. Not because Rooney needs more medals to throw at prostitutes but because the fans here want it. The ones who slave on a weekday to wake up at 3.30am to watch a pointless friendly between England and Uruguay.

Most of us were still 'swimming' when England last won the World Cup.

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