“Injuries have blighted England’s build-up and Rooney, the one world-class talent, may not play a part.”
says http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer-world-cup-2006/group-b-snapshot/2006/05/30/1148956329382.html
and many other articles I have read about England in the world cup.
What about Beckham, Lampard, Owen, Terry and Gerrard ? Lampard was 2nd in voting for player of the year 2005. Gerrard was 7th
I say, old boy, are you quoting an Australian paper on England?
There is a bit of sporting rivalry between us, you know - and a certain amount of ‘Pommie-bashing’! :eek:
Having said that, England certainly have one of their best squads for a while (that’s not saying much really :o ).
Dpending on what your definition of ‘World-class’ is (World’s best player in his position? worth including in any 24 man squad? in World’s top 100?), I would put Lampard, Gerrard and Terry forward, with Robinson having an honourable mention.
Beckham is not quite the player he was and Owen has had many injuries.
I personally hope that Crouch has a magnificent tournament, because I want to see his robotic goal celebration. Crouch represents every park player, every couch potato (Crouch potato 
), every elderly fan.
Engerluuuund, Engerluuuund, Engerluuuund, !
http://worldcup.itv.com/News/Story_Page/0,15843,6847_1195798,00.html
for an English quote “I provoked quite a rancourous debate in the office a couple of days ago with the suggestion in my last article that Rooney is the only world-class player in the England squad.”
By the way, I am a New Zealander living in Australia. I usually support England in the World Cup.
As glee said, “world class” means different things to different people. I suppose my personal definition is “would stand a chance of getting into the national team of any country”. So if you’re in the squad of the best country, arguably Brazil or Argentina, you are by definition world class.
I think Rooney is the only English player who would definitely get into the Brazil team. He’s hands down the best player I’ve ever seen play for England. Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham would stand a chance, and maybe they’d like an English centre back like John Terry too.
Bulljive. The purpose of news writing, is to get a reaction, sell papers, etc. Lampard and Gerard are two of the top 20 players in the world. Rooney, great as he is, would have a lot harder breaking into the Brazil team as a forward than Lampard & Gerard would as midfileders.
England’s best player is Gerrard; he’s the complete midfielder: he has superb ball control, he’s an excellent passer, he has a wicked shot, he defends well, he wins balls, and he has good pace.
And this coming from an American Chelsea-supporter (since the '70s, thankyouverymuch).
Well if that is the definition then there would be about 10 world class players in the world.