Job done...but now we take the hard path...

Phew...it's never easy to be an England football supporter is it?  My wife is Argentine, and every Argentina game seems to be a breeze for her compared to the emotional turmoil, the pain and suffering that comes with EVERY England game, even when we win!

I'll leave breaking down the game and the performance to other more qualified writers, but the main thing to know is that while England have got through, that late Landon Donovan goal that sent the US through too might just be the second most important goal in England's World Cup campaign.  The late late show by the USA means that they top the group and England qualify second.  That means trouble!  Why?

Because now England fall into a different part of the World Cup bracket.  Depending on the results of the matches later today, England are now likely to face Germany in the second round on Sunday. It gets worse; should they vastly improve on performances to date and beat the old enemy, then they will probably have to face Argentina in the Quarter Finals.

Meanwhile the US, by virtue of topping the group, will probably face Serbia in the second round, before a Quarter Final match up against Uruguay or South Korea; now tell me which is the easier route to a Semi Final?  The US now have an unbelievable chance of making it to the Semi-Finals - one thing is for sure, either the US, Uruguay, South Korea, or Ghana/Serbia will make it to the semi final...not the biggest or best teams in the world.

So now we sit back and watch the next games unfold - Germany against Ghana and Australia v Serbia; I'll be cheering on Ghana, as a win or draw for them could send Germany home and out of England's way!   Unbelievably if Australia and Ghana win, then the US would face Australia in the next round, while England take on Ghana!!   It's all too complicated; the important thing is both England and the US are moving forward, but let there be no doubt that the US are in far better shape to make a run deep into this tournament. 

But then, when has the England football team ever done anything the easy way?

11 from 300 million...easy pickings?

OK, so soccer is not the national sport here in the US, but there are a lot of people who enjoy and are knowledgable about the game on this side of the 'pond'.  To those of you reading this in the UK, don't under estimate the US team this Saturday.  It was back in 1950 that the “miracle on grass” occurred when USA beat England, the US wearing blue and England wearing white …those are their colours again this Saturday...

With a country of 300 million plus people, soccer can afford to be less popular than the UK, as they have 5 times as many people to work with! What do I mean by that? Well to come up with 11 decent players is five times easier for the US than it is for England! In fact it's more than that, as 60 million is the population of the UK, not just England.

Personally I still think that the likely outcome is a draw, and I don't think that would be a bad result for either team, as I expect both to emerge from the group.

Watch this fan made trailer, and you'll see that the US is not a team to be taken lightly...

USA 2 v 1 Turkey...next up England

The US team played their final friendly game prior to the World Cup today and enjoyed a come from behind 2-1 victory over Turkey. Their next game...England on June 12th in South Africa...

As an England football supporter living in the US, I think we underestimate this team at our peril. On our best day, England should beat the USA, but when have England ever showed up with their 'best day' in the first few games of a World Cup? The US team has a few very good players, and admittedly quite a few very average players, but I think I'd take a draw in the game and rely on beating Slovenia and Algeria to top the group.

Watch some brief highlights here on ESPN