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    The Road Ahead For The England Football Team

     

    The football world is abuzz with talk of European football's power players. Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona Spanish forward, Barcelona's Dutch midfielder, Andres Guardado, PSV Eindhoven's goal-scoring central defender and Manchester United's young English star, Wayne Rooney. But the most interesting man in football, and Europe, are Germany's Germany forward, Luka Modric. Modric is now a popular European star and has become a key player for Italy as well as Croatia, but his spell at Manchester United has been marred by injury. ทีเด็ด บอล เต็ง 1 ตัว

     

    The Liverpool F.C. 's rivals, Manchester United F.C., also known as the North West Derby, are a fierce inter-club rivalry between English top-flight teams Liverpool and Manchester City. It is regarded as one of the largest rivalry in world football as well as the Old Firm cup in Scotland, Superclasico in Spain, El Clasico in Argentina and derby in England itself. Both teams have built up contrasting styles of play, which means the title race is anything but close. Liverpool have often looked like underdogs despite not having a superstar player in their side, while Man Utd have seemingly spent a large part of the season on the front foot, winning three matches in a row and looking unstoppable. Recent reports suggest that Sir Alex Ferguson might bench Radamel Falcao after the pair started together in January. This would be a devastating blow to the Man Utd defence as Falcao is no doubt one of United's most talented attacking players.

     

    Meanwhile, trophies are what liverpool fans crave most for the club, and this season looks like being the season when they will lift the trophy. Unfortunately, with Inter Milan also in the quarter finals, the Nerazzani are out of this year's competition and don't look like dropping any further than fourth or fifth. Manchester City has the ability to take their title challenge to the cleaners by knocking out Chelsea and Barcelona in the last two weeks, but they face tough competitions at the final hurdle. For Liverpool it will be disappointing not to finish in the top four, but their form is definitely getting better, especially since they lost to Villa in the last round of matches. They can still win the league, but qualification for the semi-finals is probably beyond them at this time.

     

    The Manchester City defence has been exposed over the last few months and this has not helped their cause, as they have not managed to win a match without losing a goalscoring opportunity. Thierry Henry, the club's designated forward, has actually was substituted due to injury in consecutive matches and missed what would have been a crucial win over Chelsea. This leaves the team with just Didier Drogba and Gael Kakuta as alternatives to Henry and Drogba, who are fit and firing. Incoming Premier League newcomers Antonio Valencia has impressed recently but he too has been prone to the injuries that seem to plague this young side. Bringing in another attacking midfielder may be necessary if Man United is to improve over the coming season.

     

    host nation football} Unfortunately for Hodgson and the England team, they will have to put in an equally difficult task when facing Brazilians in what promises to be a fascinating World Cup semi-final. Brazil have many talented footballers of their own, with stars such as Hulk, Ramires and Roberto Carlos, legends at the sport, have already impressed watching on from the stands at the England v Brazil clash in Brasilia. Brazil does have a number of footballing traditions to boast about, such as their amazing football success over Italy at the 1994 World Cup, but have never really progressed beyond the group stages of the competition. Only once have they reached the semis and knocked England out of the cup, and that was back in penalty kicks. It will be a tall order for Hodgson's men to take all of the points they have earned in their first three games at home and away against Brazil and secure a place in the semis and beyond.

     

    Regardless of whether Hodgson opts for a traditional four or five goals a game, it looks likely that this England team will struggle to keep pace with Brazilians in the group stages, given the attacking prowess and fitness levels on show at their own club world cup. On a brighter note, injuries to stars like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have helped minimize the burden on Hodgson. However, without the driving force that these two stars provide, Liverpool will find it very hard to win any kind of football match, let alone a home semi-final against Brazil. England football fans will surely look forward to seeing the exploits of David Beckham and his team mates in the coming months and years at this summer's World Cup. I hope they give everything they can to bring this beloved football tournament to their home country.

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