We might not create much in open play, but Beckham can deliver a decisive dead ball. We can score a goal a game from set-pieces in this World Cup.

“Brazil have super players but I don’t believe they will win the World Cup. I think they will struggle in Germany. My own favourite teams, the two teams I expect to win the World Cup, are either Italy or England.”

SAHA fancies French chances? Soft news. I rate Saha, I fancy France, but that is soft news.

The most interesting thing about Brazil in 2002 was the way that Big Phil Scolari had gambled in the construction of his team.

It takes a special nerve, a special spirit, a special collective determination, a special degree of self-sacrifice by a squad of players, to win a World Cup.

This is a big World Cup for Zidane and Henry, after the fiasco of 2002, when holders France did not score a goal and crashed out in the first round.

Sven thinks he can beat Paraguay with a 4-4-2 formation but will need a holding player in the knockout stages. However, he is tinkering so much that he can’t get one system functioning smoothly, let alone two.

Can’t Sven see  that Stevie G is not a half-striker? Can’t he see that he never will be? He is too big to play on the half-turn.

Beckham’s quarterback skills shone like a beacon, even in a grim first half where England had no fluency, no tempo, no shape.

Can Carragher make accurate short passes, angled and timed nicely, as the role requires ?