Well, I am a die-hard England fan and I really hope to see Shearer and the rest of the team give a good fight against their opponents. Do you consider their group to be the group of death?
WhICH TEAM do you think will pose the biggest threat?
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The Game Against Malta
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England could have drawn(or lost) that game against Malta if not for the for the second saved panelty. Wright looked nervous infront of goal. Scholes never made clear shot at goal, Beckham's free-kics were under-par and Shearer decided to leave the ball aside and start breaking a nose or two.. If England can only beat a side which is ranked 118th in the world by a 2-1 margin , will they ever beat the other potential champions of Europe. :-(
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STINKING PARTNERSHIP..
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Frankly, England's goals come from individual talents. Did you see Owen's wonder Goal against Brazil? Now, was there much team-work involved in that? I don't think so...
ENGLAND SEEM TO HAVE VERY LITTLE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THEMSELVES. THEY OFTEN RECEIVE UNEXPECTED PASSES AND DO NOT STICK LIKE A TEAM....I JUST CAN'T SEE THEM GOING PAST THE FIRST ROUND...

A SAD ENGLAND FAN.......

Your comments regarding recent England performances are correct, but if previous competitions are anyhting to go by, we always seem to come goos, with new partnerships emerging when it matters, so I'm still hoping that we can go all the way, and for once beat Germany.

Any of you guys think the English would thrash the Germans(I am talking about the soccer team, not it's fans);-)
My prediction:
England vs Portugal
1 1

England vs Germany
0 2

England vs Romania
2 1

*England finish third in group, Portugal and Germany qualify for the next phase.

I am an English fan and I hope this will not be reality.

Your predictions?

>>>To Willow: Great Point! Remember Euro 96 and the Tourney de France? {did I spell that right? http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif}

i think england have a great chance to top the group. germany is far from their usually strong form and the last time england played portugal, england won 3-0. the romanians shouldn't be a problem either. they'll be fiesty but will probably lose 1-0 or 2-1.

To rob_0606>>> The Romanians will pose a great threat to England's defence line.
Remember World Cup 98 mate? The Romanians just kicked us out of the game, scoring a late goal to level things up. ;-)

Portugal we win
Germany we win or draw, i'm thinking draw.
Romania we win le Saux isn't playing this time.

can nobody just accept england are not good enuff. the only reason english clubs do well is cos of foreigners look at chelsea. this is the least confident i have ever felt about englands chances in a tournament.

ps i will hopefully have to admit i am wrong but dont get your hopes up

If you think England can beat Romania, then think again. Remember WC94, 98? Our offense will trash your defense. I'm not saying that because i like romania but because i realy think they will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What matters is the way the teams play in those games.

Germany often plays bad in preparation games, but they always seem to win in the competitions.

In the qualifiers Romania beat Portugal in Lisbon with a late goal in a counter-attack, although they played defensively. In Romania any of the teams could have won, but Portugal didn't attack much, in order to hold a precious point.

England was the only of these four to qualify from a play-off, by one goal advantage against Scotland.

But we all must realise that the games IN Euro are different, with some "weak" teams playing much better and other favourite one playing bad. There are no "weak" teams in this group.

So, let's wait and see...

The Brazil-England game was a bit of a shocker to me. Brazil clearly let a few gears down. Sad to say, I think that match is a very poor indication of England's true talent as a whole.

Owen should play alongside Shearer and bag in a few goals against the Germans. http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/wink.gif
My prediction still stands at Germany 2 England 0

England had the super extraultimate chance to win a title such as the EURO, but as it seems, Shearer has recovered.

Shearer is recovering.

That's a good sign. http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif

yeah, shearer is recovering, thats a good sign for england's opponents. personally, i dont think england will shine, i rather think they will whine.