Matchday 2

Group B
England vs Paraguay
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10th June 2006

Prediction: Paraguay draw 0-0 or upset win 0-1

Sven-Goran Eriksson says he is sending out the finest England team he has ever had on a mission to win the World Cup. The England coach exuded confidence as he placed total faith in his side ahead of the opener against Paraguay. He said: "This is the best England team I have ever had - no doubt about it at all. When you have a great team and a good group you can set the tempo.

Liverpool's Peter Crouch will deputize for the injured Rooney and the England star looks on a speedy recovery in time for the knockout stages (if England ever make it). Although the Liverpool striker show signs of scoring form recently from EPL matches, he has always problems of putting the ball in the net under point blank situations. With that in mind, it's now up to his compatriot Steven Gerrard at the mersey side club to incinerate the England attack and conjure the goals or even scoring them.

On the other side, Paraguay’s striker Roque Santa Cruz has declared himself fit to play after recovering from a knee injury. Cruz's return for Paraguay will be a major boost for Coach Anibal Ruiz, who has already lost striker Jose Cardozo to injury. The Bayern Munich forward is Paraguay's biggest threat to England, while Carlos Paredes will battle it out with Gerrard and Frank Lampard for control of the midfield.

On a Head-to-Heads record, England and Paraguay have met each other twice before. In 1986, England won 3-0 at the second round stage of the World Cup in Mexico. In 2002, England beat Paraguay 4-0, this time in a friendly international. Despite all statistics favouring the strong European team, I still want to go against the odds today.

Reason: Paraguay is a highly defensive team and the warm-up matches has proven South American team is capable of forestalling its opponents in attack although the opponents are relatively quite weak in attack. With the absence of England golden boy Rooney, I think Paraguay might be able to pull off a low scoring draw here or an upset win.

WC Soccer 2006