The 2006 World Cup in Germany
A booksmusicfilmstv.com surreal take on the footie fest in Germany
Reports on all England's games: England 1 Paraguay 0 England 2 Trinidad & Tobago 0 England 2 Sweden 2 Ecuador 0 England 1 England 0 Portugal 0 Portugal win 3-1 on pens.
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England went through to the knockout stage of the World Cup with an unconvincing performance against a Trinidad & Tobago side they were supposedly going to put to the sword.

A late Peter Crouch far post header, from a fabulous David Beckham cross, finally calmed English nerves (helped by Crouch pulling at T&T defender Brent Sancho's hair!), and when Steven Gerrard cut inside to unleash a left foot thunderbolt, from outside the box, things looked more comfortable than they really were. Despite being dominant in possession and having many goal attempts, only really a Peter Crouch effort in the first half had forced Trinidad & Tobago goalkeeper Shaka Hislop into making a serious save.

England certainly had their scares, too. A spectacular John Terry goal-line clearance on the stroke of half time, after 'keeper Paul Robinson failed to reach a cross, stopped T&T's Stern John scoring with a header. Earlier, Robinson had lost Dwight Yorke's corner, which John had headed wide (Yorke recovering from a Steven Gerrard shot hitting him in his, if legend is correct, considerable privates). England, themselves, missed chance after chance right through the game, with Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, and Peter Crouch the chief culprits, though Lampard narrowly missed with some good strikes. Michael Owen was off the pace, and was substituted by Wayne Rooney. With Aaron Lennon also coming on, for Jamie Carragher, England became a more potent attacking threat, and Rooney's presence gave England more impetus. The Manchester United man made one good run down the left, before being denied by Yorke's fine tackle. Trinidad & Tobago were still a threat on the break, utilising the pace of substitute Cornell Glen, and John threatened again, when he spun to shoot wide. England, though, deserved to win the game, but the creativity is still lacking. Joe Cole, Rooney, and Lennon look the best bets to provide the inventiveness needed to break down better defences.

A John goal was disallowed, after the striker had strayed just offside right near the end, but Trinidad & Tobago came out of this game knowing they had given England a hard time. Defensively, they're strong, play neat football, and carry a genuine goal threat.

- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.