Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden

[roseboy64]

England and Sweden for me.

[aussie]

its about time England beat sweden, for me it would be nice if England could win all 3 group matches, if we draw with sweden pundits will again question if England really are going to really win the cup, so i'm hoping for us to storm through our group.

[TT Boy]

England & Paraguay.

[Craig]

England are due to beat Sweden. Looking at their squad, most of their key players are either ageing or Zoltan Imbrahimovic so I unconfidently predict a fate-tempting clean-sweep for Sven's men.

It'd be a mistake to ignore Paraguay, but the injury to Santa Cruz is a blow. Look defensively frail too. No shocks here.

1) England
2) Sweden
3) Paraguay
4) T&T

Irrelevant I know but I got the shock of my life to hear an interview with Roque Santa Cruz speaking in English! Wouldn't of guessed he would be able to speak it (it wasn't great but you could understand what he was saying).

[Pedro Delgado]

Irrelevant I know but I got the shock of my life to hear an interview with Roque Santa Cruz speaking in English! Wouldn't of guessed he would be able to speak it (it wasn't great but you could understand what he was saying).

Let us hope that he doesn't take any lessons from you in that regard

[Robertinho]

1. England
2. Sweden
3. Paraguay
4. Trinidad & Tobago

The top two... debatable. Think England will beat Sweden though.

[James]

Changing my initial picks a bit.

England:

2-1 against Paraguay, 3-0 against T&T, 1-1 against Sweden.

Sweden to top the group. England to lose to Germany 4-3 on penalties in Round 16. I can't believe how much Germany are being under-rated in the media and by fans. They'll lift and with home support they'll be extremely dangerous. If the betting odds are good, I'll slap down $20-$30 on them knocking England out.

[Pedro Delgado]

Changing my initial picks a bit.

England:

2-1 against Paraguay, 3-0 against T&T, 1-1 against Sweden.

Sweden to top the group. England to lose to Germany 4-3 on penalties in Round 16. I can't believe how much Germany are being under-rated in the media and by fans. They'll lift and with home support they'll be extremely dangerous. If the betting odds are good, I'll slap down $20-$30 on them knocking England out.

I can't see Sweden scoring tons of goals to be honest, for the first time in a while I'm fairly confident of finishing top of the group. Agree about the Germans though, one to avoid, but fate may decide that we must meet; Germany finishing second in their group is not out of the question so us finishing top is no guarantee of avoiding them.

[Simon]

Changing my initial picks a bit.

England:

2-1 against Paraguay, 3-0 against T&T, 1-1 against Sweden.

Sweden to top the group. England to lose to Germany 4-3 on penalties in Round 16. I can't believe how much Germany are being under-rated in the media and by fans. They'll lift and with home support they'll be extremely dangerous. If the betting odds are good, I'll slap down $20-$30 on them knocking England out.

odds on Germany arent that great, most places have em 2nd or 3rd favourites at around $7 or $8, i suspect if the tournament wasnt in germany they'd be closer to about 15's

[James]

I can't see Sweden scoring tons of goals to be honest, for the first time in a while I'm fairly confident of finishing top of the group. Agree about the Germans though, one to avoid, but fate may decide that we must meet; Germany finishing second in their group is not out of the question so us finishing top is no guarantee of avoiding them.

Maybe so, but I can't help but think, that with the media and fans building this England team up as the best side since 1966 that it's just doomed to fail. England perform best when they're not expected to do well, and are clear under-dogs. The Ashes being the prime example.

odds on Germany arent that great, most places have em 2nd or 3rd favourites at around $7 or $8, i suspect if the tournament wasnt in germany they'd be closer to about 15's

I'm picking Italy to win the tournament, but I'll see what I can get on head to head when England play Germany in either Round 16 or Quarters.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

England and Sweden. Fairly confident we can beat Swedes and top the group. Paraguay to slaughter T&T 5-0 or similar.

I'll bite. Paraguay to score less than 3 goals against T&T.

[Pedro Delgado]

Maybe so, but I can't help but think, that with the media and fans building this England team up as the best side since 1966 that it's just doomed to fail. England perform best when they're not expected to do well, and are clear under-dogs. The Ashes being the prime example.

Anyone with half a brain ignores the meedya chest thumping, don't forget all the quotes in the papers from some fans (Mike from Swindon, welder: "We're the best come on England!!" etc) aren't necessarily the majority view, they're not going to quote somone who says "quarter's maybe semi's, out on pens" which is what I and many of my friends think. I think the fans are correct in thinking this is a good England side, possibly the best set of players since you-know-when. I like being the under-dog too, but in a group comprised of Sweden, Paraguay and T&T it's hard to find anyone that wouldn't make us favourites, and even against the Germans we'd be ahead with the bookies. That's not arrogance, it's just fact.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

It's a shame that England lacks leadership...

[BoyBrumby]

Maybe so, but I can't help but think, that with the media and fans building this England team up as the best side since 1966 that it's just doomed to fail. England perform best when they're not expected to do well, and are clear under-dogs. The Ashes being the prime example.

I'm picking Italy to win the tournament, but I'll see what I can get on head to head when England play Germany in either Round 16 or Quarters.

TBF we were 2nd favourites for Bill going into the 2003 RU WC. Did ok then, as I recall....

I'm agnostic with yer eye-talians. Sometimes think they're a value bet, but with their current injury probs they could equally be first-rounders.

[Great Birtannia]

Isaksson will miss at least the first game with concussion after getting poleaxed by a Kim Kallstrom shot in training. All my fantasy sides with salary caps are going to have to have Barthez in goal now