...England has lost to Belarus 2-1. Granted this was their "B" team but it still wasn't void of talent as players like Owen, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Jenas, and Carrick saw ample playing time.

FWIW, Belarus is ranked 65th in the latest FIFA rankings.

i dont know if that makes me feel better or just more sure that the english national team just cannot put it together. They looked average throughout qualifying (their record does not reflect that but watching them wasnt the prettiest display of soccer). I think they are setup up for a disappointing world cup due to a partially or unhealthy wayne rooney and some awful squad choices. Personally I think beckham should be on the bench as I think he is vastly overrated and actually disrupts Englands attack...that being said I dont get paid to analyze soccer so take it for what its worth

Nah, England isn't all that. They'll be lucky to make it to the quarter-finals. 'LUCKY' to make it there. I'm hoping we'll do better than they will.

yeah England did lose, and they don't look to make much noise in June with the injuries and possibly questionable talent they're taking with them, but if you watched the game they at least played well the in the first half, crisp accurate passes, good width and ball movement, they had quite a few scoring chances while belarus looked like it could do nothing against england's defense. Also one of belarus' goals came off of freak groin rupture by the goalie

btw, how did walcott look in the game

Fast and lost

Newest report is rooney is definitely out for the first game and most likely the group stage all together...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=369127&cc=5901