I watched the game yesterday and thought Belgium deserved to just edge it. It was a lucky shot, but we missed far too many chances, and especially a practically open goal that Rashford managed to miss. I dare say Kane would have got it in, "but if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas" (for any KOTH fans).
Assuming Southgate deploys the 'A-team' against Colombia then we should do okay, but England have always lacked consistency and judging by how 'WTF' this tournament has been so far at times, it could well go either way.
What yesterday proves is that our B-team is not good enough to beat a solid all-round team like Belgium (Panama are trash-tier and were lucky to qualify at all), and that we need our A-team strikers if we're going to score.
I am always extremely sceptical when it comes to England and World Cups; we usually have a team of egotistical morons and lose because we deserve to, but actually this time around I'm impressed at the cohesion and the consistency of the first XI, and I think that we might be able to do alright.
I very much doubt football's coming home, and I think we'll seriously struggle against Sweden - absolutely my favourite team to watch; I'm rooting for them now - but I think so far, so... okay-ish.
So good to see Germany get knocked out after that last-second bullshit they pulled against Sweden, though. That game against South Korea was sheer karma. I honestly don't care what happens here on out. Most people would say they'd be happy if England made it to the quarter-finals, and that seems likely (though by no means assured), so I doubt many will be disappointed in their performance in the long run. Was it a mistake to play the B-team against Belgium? Maybe, but do we want to face Brazil?
I hope everyone is enjoying it so far!
lol
