Australia v England

No, they're not playing each other - at least not in football but I wanted to quickly write something about the two teams.

England played Paraguay on Saturday, and looked remarkably ordinary. Many times teams play against weaker opposition, and really don't perform. I consider it like my youngest son Joel, who draws good pictures at home, but at school tends to draw stuff that is much lower quality. You put him around kids that aren't as good, and he drops off too. I think this is what England did against Paraguay. They started well, got an early goal, and then drifted off. Paraguay never really looked like scoring, and I think the highlight of the match was when Paul Robinson (the England goalie) kicked the ball so high that it hit the video screen that was suspended over the pitch.

Yesterday, Australia played Japan. It was a must-win match for both teams, as the countries likely to progress from the group are Brazil and Croatia. Australia flooded the midfield, and had most of the possession. Japan looked chances in the counter-attack. But all too often, you heard "And Kewell fails to find Viduka again" Was Kewell just having a boy-look? Was Viduka down at the pie-shop? It was good that Australia managed to get a few goals in the end, but I think they need to sort out both their attack and defence.

Both sides picked up three valuable points in matches that should've been easier work than they actually were. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.