Absolutely right. Before the last finals Brazil were being talked of as a shell of their former selves and a team who might not even make it through the group stages, while Germany had been hammered by England and were considered too old and slow to go anywhere. A few weeks later we had a Brazil v Germany World Cup Final, and I know that Germany had a fairly lucky and easy ride through to the final, while the tournament also turned up several shock results that meant the knock-out stages weren't contested by all of the "best" nations, but even so they made it to where everyone wanted to be. Now four years on Brazil are once again untouchable, much of this having to do with the simple fact that they go into these finals as the reigning champions, as well as possessing some of the most talented players on earth. England have one of the finest international squads around, certainly one good enough to compete with anyone else, now is the time for them to forget about the press and the public and go out and do their stuff.
You know if, come the end of June, we are all celebrating England being crowned the new World Champions half of the critics will have been saying they had been predicting England as the dark horses. In reality, we would rather look to the likes of Mexico, who because of an easier qualification route and the participation in a joke tournament have suddenly become a team to beat, or to Brazil and the other usual suspects, than expect anything from our own nation.