Yanks and Three Lions fall

A pretty weak effort from the Yanks tonight in Sweden. A few players such as Kamani Hill and Jay DeMerit had decent form but overall "a mediocre performance" as Donovan Beasley stated.

A strike by Kim Kallstrom in the 56th minute gave Sweden a 1-0 result over the US Men's National Team in a friendly at Ullevi Stadium in Goteborg, Sweden on Wednesday.

The score marked the end of what had been a first-half power struggle on a clear Scandinavian night.

In the first half, things got off to a shaky start for the predominantly European-based squad when a Michael Bradley mishap gave Sweden's Kennedy Bakircioglu space and options in the second minute. Bakircioglu found Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a centering ball but the Inter Milan striker went wide with it.

The Americans quickly returned the favor on a great chance for DaMarcus Beasley in the third minute. Landon Donovan took a creative pass from Clint Dempsey and played it flat to Beasley who, alone, went wide left.

"The contact was there but it was just the wrong side of the post," Beasley told reporters after the match. "I should have scored. I thought it was going in."

Beasley's miss seemed to leave him a bit shell-shocked in the following moments.

DeMerit looked to be the best Yank when he came on late; it's about time for him to get more minutes. Most supporter seems to be curious to have seen how Jozy Altidore might have fared against Sweden; hopefully that day will come soon. Also worth noting was the debut of Sal Zizzo.

Struggling with their fitness England looked like and fared as well as their 1998 World Cup team, with Owen & Beckham playing together. Kevin Kuranyi and the Germans got a gift equalizer from the shaky Paul Robison. Cristian Pander put the Germans ahead with a marvelous blast that Robinson was helpless to stop.

Frank Lampard's early goal was not enough as Germany came from behind to beat England 2-1 at Wembley and heap more pressure on Steve McClaren. There was not a penalty in sight but Paul Robinson's howler ensured England still experienced that familiar sinking feeling against their old rivals.

Lampard's first international goal for 12 months had raised hopes of a rare home win against the old enemy.

Unfortunately, on a night of experimentation and preparation, the positives gained from an encouraging performance which deserved better than the eventual result, will be overshadowed by Robinson's woes.

The Tottenham man gifted Kevin Kuranyi Germany's equaliser with a miserable mistake and nothing during his 45-minute appearance suggested anything other than that his replacement, veteran David James, should be installed when Israel head to Wembley on September 8 for a game coach Steve McClaren has already described as "must-win" if England are to reach Euro 2008.

The goalkeeping conundrum will occupy McClaren's mind for most of the next 17 days, although there was little Robinson could have done to keep out the sweet strike from Christian Pander which ultimately gave Germany their win.

The aforementioned Pander goal:

FIFA VP sticks foot in mouth, England responds...

FIFA VP Austin "Jack" Warner decides to let his feelings be known about England and didn't really hold back:

In an interview to be broadcast tomorrow on the BBC's World Service, Warner dismissed England's chances if FIFA's rotation policy brought the finals to Europe in 11 years' time.

"If by chance, in 2018, the World Cup were to go to Europe, I'm quite sure, with the English luck as it is, they won't get it," Warner said.

"It'll be Italy, Spain, or it might even be France. Nobody in Europe likes England. England - who invented the sport - has never had any impact on world football. England at no time has had the love and support of Europe. For Europe, England is an irritant."

Warner is president of CONCACAF, which runs the game in north and central America along with the Caribbean. He was highly critical of former Scottish Football Association president John McBeth earlier this year, accusing him of racism.

McBeth, speaking after his election as vice-president of FIFA (a post he would never fill due to his remarks), said African and Caribbean football associations were tainted by greed. Ironically, McBeth was also scathing of England's standing in world football, stating "the rest of the world hates their guts".

Warner was scathing in his condemnation of McBeth in May, calling on FIFA to "send him back to Scotland where he belongs".

Aware that England has some support for a bid to host the World Cup for the first time since winning it in 1966, Warner has vowed to fight their bid.

He said: "There are moves to give it to England. I must fight that."

First of all Mister Warner, the British colonization of your country, Trinidad and Tobago, ended years ago, so get over it. Second, those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones so keep your personal grudges to yourself. How this guy got re-elected as CONCACAF president is beyond me?

Obviously the English couldn't turn the other cheek on this one and FA Chairman Geoff Thompson and Englands World Cup ambassador came back firing:

England's 2018 World Cup ambassador Richard Caborn also responded to Warner's comments. "That is Jack. He will fight to the death to get it to Concacaf and I understand that," said Caborn. "We will put a strong case, along with the Football Association, to get it. What is unfortunate is that Jack has attacked England and particularly the FA - and the FA has done a first-class job.

"They have got 30 schemes running around the world, education programmes, on six continents. Indeed in Trinidad, for the last seven years they have had three workshops running which have been incredibly well-received by Concacaf, so it's not quite true what Jack's saying."

Next time you have something brilliant to say about English football Mr. Warner, just keep it to yourself.