SportsDirect.com Takes A Look At England’s Progress In The World Cup

Saturday 14th June saw England defeated 2-1 by 4x world champions, Italy in their first game of the World Cup. England have two matches remaining in which they will compete for a place in the next round. England ideally need to win their next two games, however there is a possibility for England to go through if they draw or lose any of the two games, depending on how the scores turn out for the other teams in their group. Wayne Rooney admits their next match is “do or die” and following criticism of his performance against Italy, the pressure is on to do well.

During Saturday’s match, Marchisio scored the first goal for Italy after 35 minutes, 2 minutes later Sturridge equalised for England. At 50 minutes, Balotelli headed in the second goal for the Italians to take the win. With a missed goal set up by Rooney, 2-1 was the final score. In the excitement of England’s equalising goal, the teams physio, Gary Lewin ended up being stretchered off with a dislocated ankle after falling on the astro turf. Lewin was flown back to the UK and is now waiting for surgery on his ankle following the event.

During the game, England had 44% possession of the ball and 18 shots, 5 of which were on target. Italy had 13 shots, 4 of which were on target. England had 9 corners and Italy 2 and finally England made 8 fouls, one of which Sterling was given a yellow card for, while Italy made 11 fouls.

England’s next game is tomorrow evening against Uruguay. Luis Suarez sat out of Uruguay’s first game due to injury but is fully fit again to play against England. With the exception of their most recent friendly in 2006, Uruguay have never lost a game against England at a World Cup, winning 4 and drawing 3 games.

Expectations may be low for England’s World Cup chances, however the possibility to go far in the competition is there. The England squad are now back in Rio at their training ground preparing for their next big game.

SportsDirect.com Takes A Look At England’s Preparations For The World Cup

With only 10 days until the World Cup 2014 kicks off, England’s preparations are off to a good start with a 3-0 win over Peru in the international friendly last Friday. The game at Wembley Stadium was England’s last match on home soil before the World Cup begins. During the game, Daniel Sturridge, Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka all scored a goal each to secure the 3-0 win. Following their first friendly, the England team flew over to Miami, where they will be staying for the next week or so to play their next two friendly matches between Ecuador on the 4th June and Honduras on the 7th June. After these two matches, on the 8th of June the team will head to Rio De Janeiro ready for the start of the World Cup.

England’s first game takes place on Saturday 14th June against Italy and will be played at Manaus Stadium. Shortly after they will play Uruguay at Sao Paulo on the 19th and Costa Rica at Belo Horizonte on the 24th June.  England’s approach to the World Cup is to study each game in detail and analyse potential opponents’ game tactics and weak areas. Football analysts Steve O’Brien and his assistant Mike Baker will compile the facts and statistics from each game and feedback to Roy Hodgson in Brazil. This research should give the England team a good insight into how to play against each competitor and know where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

With only 10 days to go, the opening match venue in Sao Paulo is not yet ready for the opening. Due to on going delays the Corinthians arena will be less than three quarters full for Sundays last test match to assess whether the stadium is ready. As it stands, with temporary seating unfinished, only 40,000 fans will be able to attend the league match. All facilities need to be tested and up to standards. Fire fighting authorities have not authorised the host club to open one of the seating areas and only 5000 fans will be able to watch from another unfinished seating  area. With so little time, the pressures on for the stadium to be completed.

The starting places for the England team are yet to be confirmed, however there is speculation as to whether Wayne Rooney will start, while Daniel Sturridge looks a strong possibility following his performance against Peru last Friday. Prior to kick off Roy Hodgson has told the boys they must sing that  national anthem and belt it out loud and proud. This will help build up emotions before they play. Fans across the UK are now gearing up for England’s first match in just under two weeks. With pubs set to open later and games being aired on national television, everyone will have an opportunity to watch the match live.

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