Hopeless, then hopeful, then mugged

by

SOCCER-WORLD/Images: Rapidgamer

THIS POSTING NOW SUPERSEDED BY: Germany 4, auf wiedersehen England


We were hoping to feel able to use a less jubilant image of German fans at half time. And after a disastrous start it should have been possible as Lampard’s shot came down from the underside of the bar far enough into the goal to fit at least another ball between it and the line.

Incredibly, the ref and linesman must have been quietly humming Deutschland über alles to themselves; they imagined it no more a goal than Rooney’s earlier blast into row Z.

Read more

Sorry America, but you had to go

by

jeremy3

We end our trio of Sunday morning reads on a controversial note. Jeremy Robson, writing from Ontario, risks the wrath of nearish neighbours to, whisper this, welcome the USA’s exit …


Well, thank goodness the USA have been eliminated from the World Cup.

Read more

World Cup Soapbox: the tournament warms up

by

soapbox


Pete Sixsmith appreciates an urgent new dimension to the World Cup after the often turgid fare of the group stage. England fans of a nervous disposition should stop reading before the end …

After the chess games of the Group stages, the cynicism of the likes of Portugal and Chile and the ineptitude of England, we saw some real football today, with belting games in the first of the Round Two games.

Read more

Bravo Ghana, as USA football comes of age

by

bill9

Spoilt for choice, Salut! Sunderland has three writers lined up to share their thoughts on yesterday’s games, and the new phase of the World Cup more generally. Let’s start with Bill Taylor‘s eulogy to an absorbing encounter between Ghana and the USA …

If England and Germany play half as well today as the United States and Ghana played yesterday, it’ll be a very good game.

Read more

England v Germany: a World Cup “Who Are You?”

by

susanne

Finding a German fan to preview England v Germany for Salut! Sunderland was not as easy as you’d think. A bit like looking for someone from Stoke City. Even Thomas Hauser failed to respond. I was almost reduced to popping to the supermarket or beach a mile from me in the south of France: loads to be found there. In the nick of time, someone came back from a Facebook site called Deutschland/German/Allemagne, where Germany and England fans have been trading insults but perfectly nice people lurk too. So thanks to Susanne Dornheim, even if reading this introduction will have taken longer than it will to peruse her short, sharp replies …

Salut! Sunderland: England 4 West Germany 2. Germany 1 England 5. But lots of German wins, too. What is it to be this time?

I hope Germany will win I think we have a real chance

Read more

Are the World Cup upsets creating a New Order?

by

jeremy3


Jeremy Robson describes how the early departures from the 2010 World Cup of the two finalists from 2006 illustrates a wider phenomenon

So, both France and Italy have stumbled at the first hurdle and failed to qualify from their respective groups.

This is significant because since the Mexico World Cup of 1970, only six nations have contested the final in subsequent tournaments, Brazil and Argentina, from South America with Italy, France, Germany and Holland representing Europe.

Read more

World Cup Soapbox: dudes in pinstripes

by

soapbox


Pete Sixsmith surfaces in his sea of exam papers waiting to be marked, fights the football-induced urge to drown himself in sleep and offers home, landlubber thoughts from, er, home …


It must be a sign of approaching pension entitlement age (mid 70s if the scoundrels running the country get their way), but I tend to fall asleep when I get home from work. Sit in the chair, cup of tea, toast, Guardian and zzzzzzzzz. Unfortunately, this also happens during the football.

Read more

Ha’way Paraguay, ciao Italy

by

paraguay 12

Just the shortest of postings to congratulate Paraguay on their brilliant feat in topping a group also containing the, er, mighty Italy.

It was almost as pleasing to see the Italians finish bottom and follow France out of the World Cup.

Read more

World Cup Soapbox: bring on the Germans – or maybe not

by

soapbox

England v Germany. Not a sporting occasion that always brings out the best in Her Majesty’s Tabloid Press. Pete Sixsmith dreads a deluge of red-top Germanophobia, but also wonders whether our boys can throw off the sluggishness that threatens England’s progress …

Sitting here, I am surrounded by the efforts of 300+ young people in their recent GCSE History exam.

A number of the questions on that paper rake over Britain’s stormy relationship with Germany in the 20th Century, a relationship that is about to be tested again at Bloemfontein on Sunday.

Read more

England 1 Slovenia 0: job done

by

englandIt may or may not have been too convincing in the end, but the job in hand was to get a win, and that’s what England did when others, notably the French, haven’t been able to do so.

Salut! Sunderland expects a lot of SAFC fans to reflect on the identity of our scorer, Jermain Defoe, and wonder whether Darren Bent would have done as well with the cross (or, indeed, have made a mark in the earlier, unimpressive England games).

Read more