Scouse Power

Yet another uninspired performance by England but for once, Sven made some decent substitutions, which changed the game in a positive way.

'Shrek' came on and didn't seem to have any problems with his foot, though I still don't think he was 100% match fit. The whippy Lennon came on, and straight away started to be a threat to the Trinidadians (or is it Tobagians?)

Crouchie and Lampard made some shocking misses in front of the goal and it all looked like England would settle for a dreary 0-0 draw until finally, the 9 ft Crouchie scored with his head in the 82nd minute.

Sitting in a bar surrounded by Swedes who were rooting for Trinidad & Tobago, me and two colleagues were the only people who jumped up and cheered!

Then in the 90th minute, Stevie G lashed in a stunning left-foot drive and England are well and through to the next round!

We hung around to watch the Sweden v Paraguay game - nice goal from Freddie in the dying minutes so should tee up to a nice confrontation next week.

And since England won and as promised, here's the pic I posted on my birthday. See? Nothing to get excited over...


For 24 hours only, as it's just too weird for me to see my mug on here....