World Cup: England v. Paraguay

Is it possible that England's 1-0 victory was more impressive than Germany's 4-2 victory? Yes, if you think that defense wins championships, because England's defense was virtually inpenetrable. Also, England dominated the first 55 minutes of the game like Germany never dominated. If you could cobble together Germany's offense with England's midfield and defense play, you'd have the best team in the cup.

I blame the gradual erosion of England's quality on Sven Goran Eriksson. It seems so typical of his style to settle down after scoring first early. There was no urgency on attack whatsoever. Like the Euro Cup of 2002, in the absence of Rooney, Lampard was the only continuous threat for the opposing goalie.

I'm interested in the Ivory Coast-Argentina game. Possible upset. Even a tie would put Ivory Coast in decent shape.