World Cup Brazil 2014 / Weltmeisterschaft Brasilien

[marathondan]

I'm not sure about that club vs country thing. The nation does go doolally whenever there's an international tournament on. Although in some ways it's as though the whole country has been swept up in a strange nationwide pantomime. Perhaps it's not that serious.

Surprised no-one has picked up on MLCMM's assertion "given the depth of talent at its disposal". That may be true in purely numerical terms - with 20 times the population of Uruguay, there should be a decent chance of unearthing some diamonds - but the country isn't exactly awash with international stars. I'm sure that the number one reason, head and shoulders above the others (sorry to use the phrases number one and head and shoulders in the same sentence) is the huge number of overseas players in the PL. No other country has a league like it. I'm not aware that any other country has national quotas, but it doesn't seem to happen in the same way elsewhere.

It should be rememebered that this is a very young England team, which was handed a tough group (as a result of a poor qualifying campaign, of course). By contrast Argentina, France and Germany should arrive in the second round feeling refreshed. England won't be the only major European team going to the airport this week - Spain and Portugal have already rearranged their flights as well, and it's quite conceivable that Italy could join them. That adds a little context.

And that odd Gerrard pep talk? I understood that was the gaffer's idea.