ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP PROSPECTS After our incredible 5-1 thrashing of bitter rivals Germany, great things are expected of Becks and co, which only adds to the huge amount of weight on the lads' shoulders. But do we have a hope in hell of lifting the famous trophy? The Group of Death England's first hurdle is almost as big as David Seaman's ponytail. In Group F, we've been drawn against World Cup favourites Argentina, with the likes of Veron, Batistuta, Ortega, Crespo and Simeone. Those avid footy fans amongst us will remember the heartbreak of losing to them in the quarterfinals of France '98 in a penalty shootout. And that David Beckham red card. We're also in with Sweden, where our own manager, Sven Goran Eriksson hails from, with goal machine Henrik Larsson, Arsenal's Freddy Ljungberg and Southampton's Anders Svensson. And to top it off, we've also got African Champions Nigeria, who have Arsenal's super-skillful Nwankwo Kanu and Chelsea's adventurous left-back, Celestine Babayaro. So do we have a chance of progressing? Presuming we don't beat Argentina, I think we've got a chance of getting at least four points off Nigeria and Sweden, which should take us through as Group D runners up. The Second Round Presuming we finished second in Group F, we'd have to face Group A winners, France who are the current World Champions. The thought of Thierry Henry hurtling at poor old Gary Neville is somewhat daunting. Realistically, I don't think we will get past France, but we can only dream... The Quarter Finals If the whole of the France squad suddenly come down with a most unfortunate bout of diarrhoea and vomitting picked up from the local delicacy of dog rump and chicken casserole, we might just have a chance of progressing through to the last eight. There we would face the winner of Brazil V Japan. Not a difficult one to work out. So we face Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo and Elber. Again I think it would take the same amount of luck required in the second round to take us through past Brazil... The Semi Finals With two of the three competition favourites, France and Brazil, out of the way, you,d think the semi final would be a little easier. Wrong again. Here we face Argentina, who we lost to in the group stages. But this time it's a different story: Michael Owen, terrorising the weak Argentinean back four, scores another wonder goal, captain marvellous David Beckham breaks the net with a bullet-like free-kick, Nigel Martyn works wonders in goal and keeps a clean sheet, and we produce a victory reminiscent of that night in Munich... The Final In the final we face winner of the other semi final, between Italy and Portugal. I'd say Italy squeeze through on penalties again, with Luis Figo missing a crucial one for Portugal. So we're up against Italy and the likes of Nesta and Alessandro del Piero. But Italy have been lucky to get through, and, despite reaching the final, have under-performed all the way. On the stroke of 45 minutes Beckham swings in a corner, Nesta heads it out, but who is lurking on the edge of the box but scouser Stevie Gerrard. It falls perfectly for him, on the half-volley, and Super Steve slams it home with style. England's back four of Mills, Ferdinand, Campbell and Cole hold up for the second 45 and the Jules Rimet trophy is ours, our proud captain, David Beckham, holds the trophy aloft for all to see for the first time in 36 years.
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