I agree about not lumping all Americans together, but I would think that there is no way that Baseball is the fastest growing sport. It would be miles behind a sport like Basketball. I think the reaction of non-americans is just the result of the fact that this sort of opinion is expressed a lot on a lot of different issues.

2-1 Germany

I expect Portugal to win this won by 3 or 4 goals. I'll go for 4-0 Portugal.

Allez les Blues! Well here we go again. With only days to go until the World Cup kicks off France is gearing up for the tournament and World Cup fever is taking over Paris. France aren't many people's favourites, in fact most people aren't really even putting France into the running. The French are quietly confidant and with Henry having possibly his best ever season, Lyon's success in the Champions League and Zidane returning to the fold they are really starting to believe that they are in with a chance of repeating the feat they achieved in 1998. It all starts with a game against Switzerland, in what will probably be France's toughest group game. France and Switzerland came through the same qualification group and if their two meetings in that are anything to go by we could well expect to see Switzerland attempt to declare neutrality, retreat to their mountain hideouts and hold old for the draw. They drew 0-0 and 1-1 in the group and the prospect of another bore draw has me salivating at the fact the day will also see Brazil play Croatia and South Korea play Togo. The two teams should know each other well, afterall Switzerland is really only little France with more guns, cows and tiny knives and one of the more interest match-ups should be Henry up against his Arsenal team mate Senderos. I expect Henry to get the better of the Swiss defence, and with the pace and skill that France posess going forward they shouldn't really have any problems scoring goals in the group stages. However, after the disaster of Japan and Korea where they failed to even score once it is imperitive that if this side is to be a surprise package of the tournament that they get off to a good start. If not the French supporters will be baying for blood and I would expect that if Zidane would not be able to survive it this time. Speaking of Zizou, there is a movie out in France called Zidane that debuted at the Cannes film festival. I can't recommend it highly enough. You get to watch Zidane pant and swear from 30 angles and pretty much do nothing, though he is mysteriously sent off with only a few minutes to play, a real classic and if it is anything to go my I think we can expect the maestro to put in some fine performances this summer and leave us all wondering exactly why he bothered to come back from retirement. The swiss can also be quite hopeful coming into the tournament. The group stages should offer them a good opportunity to progress to the second round and for a team that hasn't made it to the finals since USA 1994 and will be present for only the second time since England in 1966 that really is something to get excited about. The injury to Volanthen has come as a bit of a blow but it has allowed Hakan Yakin to be recalled, a play many of you might remember from his Champions League exploits a few seasons ago. Other than that the hopes of the team will rest on many of their players that play outside of the Swiss league, players like Senderos and Frei and it will be their defensive strength that will make them difficult for opposition teams to break down and will most likely be their strategy against France. The only other British based player in the squad is the 19 year old Arsenal defender Johan Djourou, not a household name, but a team mate of Senderos at Arsenal. If they can pull off a result in this match it will put them in a very strong position to qualify from the group and given that any team qualifying from this group will probably be pleased if they can avoid playing Spain in the next round then this could be the crucial match. If the team can keep things tight at the back and players like Yakin and Frei can produce the goods up front then anything is possible in this group and certainly their results in qualification show that they can be more than a match for the French side. World Cup History - France - 1930 Uruguay - Third, Pool One 1934 Italy - First Round 1938 France - Quarter-finals 1950 Brazil - Did Not Qualify 1954 Switzerland - Third, Group One 1958 Sweden - Third place 1962 Chile - Did Not Qualify 1966 England - Fourth, Group One 1970 Mexico - Did Not Qualify 1974 West Germany - Did Not Qualify 1978 Argentina - Third, Group One 1982 Spain - Fourth place 1986 Mexico - Third place 1990 Italy - Did Not Qualify 1994 U.S.A. - Did Not Qualify 1998 France - Winners 2002 Korea/Japan - First Group phase Switzerland- 1930 Uruguay - Did Not Qualify 1934 Italy - Quarter-finals 1938 France - Quarter-finals 1950 Brazil - Third, Pool One 1954 Switzerland - Quarter-finals 1958 Sweden - Did Not Qualify 1962 Chile - Fourth, Group Two 1966 England - Fourth, Group Two 1970 Mexico - Did Not Qualify 1974 West Germany - Did Not Qualify 1978 Argentina - Did Not Qualify 1982 Spain - Did Not Qualify 1986 Mexico - Did Not Qualify 1990 Italy - Did Not Qualify 1994 U.S.A. Second Round (last 16) 1998 France - Did Not Qualify 2002 Korea/Japan - Did Not Qualify Star Man - France - Henry. Do I really have to say why? His performances for Arsenal this season were simply World Class and despite the fact that he has yet to play as well for France I expect that this will be a big World Cup for him with a lot of pressure being put on him to perform and carry the side. He seems to have thrived under the pressure at Arsenal and I expect similar performances for France could well be a reason why they will get further than many people think. Switzerland - Frei. One of the few Swiss names that many will know he has been impressive for recent seasons in Rennes and will be a threat that the French side will know all too well. Unfortunately I expect that he won't get the supply that he needs to really show off his talent, but there should be no doubting his quality. Key Player - France - Henry will be important in this game as the real challenge will be scoring goals. If he can lead the line well then France should be able to turn the domination that they should have into goals. Switzerland - Vogel. If Switzerland are to get result in this game it will be important that their midfield is not overrun by France. It will have to not only protect the backline but also get forward and supply the likes of Frei, the key to this could well be Vogel. He's a hard working player, good at winning the ball but also good once he is on it. Prediction - France 2-0 Switzerland I expect that following their failure in the last World Cup France will be intent on getting this one off to a good start. Their attacking quality should mean that they should be able to break down even a tough Swiss defence and that over the course of the 90 minutes the pressure should tell. Switzerland's lack of threat up front will cost them, even with the talented Frei in attack, and unless they can take the one or two chances that my fall to them or one of their players puts in a special performance I can't see them scoring or troubling the French backline, despite some defensive vulnerability.

People aren't being critical simply by asking the question, it just isn't what most teams do so it is pretty obvious that you are going to be asked about it. I generally like the guy but he comes off looking like a prat from that.

Everyone has to take this warm-up games with a pinch of salt. You are looking at a bunch of players who have their minds set on not getting injured. All they want to do is go through the motions and get used to playing with each other again. I have yet to see a team really impress during the build-up to the tournament, but I'm not put off by results like Italy drawing with Switzerland. Each nation will be a different prospect when the actual tournament comes around and England have the quality to beat anyone, with or without Rooney. Whether they will or not is another matter and a lot of it will come down to luck and who pulls out that special performance on the day. I don't have them as my favourites, but there are lots of pros and cons when you look over every team in this tournament and I think England will produce the goods this time around. I think they will at least get a place in the semi-final and once you get to that stage you never know.

Think he means next Saturday.

You'll never convince me that it was a foul, but it is just one of those issues where people will always disagree. Had we won that match then yes, we could have won the tournament, I wouldn't say that we would have because you never know.

1. Didn't Fowler actually try and stop the penalty being given? It was a marvelous piece of honesty and sportsmanship that is rarely seen, though I believe he did stake up to take the penalty, although he missed it. There are very few other examples of this sort of thing, though the Di Canio incident springs to mind, but unfortunately that is not the way modern football is played, I doubt it was ever really played like that. 2. It was an incorrect decision, but I don't think of Cisse as a cheat as a result of it, certainly there I placed more blame on the officials than I did on the Liverpool player. Most people take the view that you play the game and if things go your way then by all means take it. I disagree with players trying to fool officials or displaying unsportsmanlike behaviour, but I do accept it as unfortunately being part of the modern game. More to the point, I certainly am not going to vilify a player on the team I support simply because he may or may not have dived, especially in a game where the result had no meaning. It remains unclear whether or not Gerrard did dive, you can have your opinion and I, along with a few others, can have our own. I don't think it really matters as in a weeks time we won't even be able to remember the score of the England-Hungary game let alone care about a first half penalty that may or may not have been.

Takes two to tango.

Yawn. He's a good tv pundit and was a great player, savage is a good player, leave it at that.

I don't know the exact details but wasn't that because he was using an American version of a drug he usually took that in Argentina does not contain Ephedrine?

It might be illegal to take drugs, but I can't find one reason why taking cocaine would improve your performance and so be classed as cheating.

Maybe, but I certainly disagree about the latter. Sometimes you can't avoid going to ground and it can at times look like a dive even when it is not meant to be. If you want Karma to come into it then I think we have a bit saved up with bad decisions going against us, so I'm looking forward to England winning.

Answer the question.

Did he try and fool the officials? I didn't see any attempt at an appeal, he simply went to ground.

Surprise, surprise, look who responded. Seems I can always rely on you lot to appear after I've posted. The first video shows one Gerrard dive, the one against AC Milan wasn't a dive really. He was being held back and it was a foul, in football today he has to go to ground to show the officials that he is being held back, it was a foul. Say what you like, Gerrard isn't a diver. Like all players it will happen and there are several reasons why that might be, expected contact, lost your footing, not all of them are that he is actually looking for a foul but it could appear that way. Maybe he does dive from time to time, only he really knows, but last night it was a penalty and I have no doubt about that.

Sometimes you can be fouled without contact. A player going in like the defender did is a foul, even if he doesn't get his man, which thankfully he didn't. I wasn't happy to see Gerrard go to ground, but I can't say for sure if he actually was diving, he made no appeal to the officials, he simlpy went to ground.

I think a player who really impressed last night was Beckham. He's been playing very well for Real Madrid this season and last night showed why there should be no doubt over why he is in the team. He set up the two goals and also provided 3 or 4 other chances that should have been turned into goals. He may not be as exciting as a player with more pace and tricks, but he produces the goods.

It was a penalty. Gerrard went down without contact but if that was because he was actually trying to dive or not I don't think you can really say. It isn't in his nature to dive though, can't remember seeing him do it before, but it was a penalty.

The way I see it is because most foreign hooligans still live with the idea of very violent English supporters and look forward to the challenge. Can't remember the last time an English supporter killed anyone.

Wow, a new topic for you. I love Ian Wright, find him funny, knows his stuff and offers a different style. His obvious bias can be annoying at times, but it is also part of his charm and he is always able to talk highly of opposition and is never blinded by who he likes or does not like. Wright deserves his MBE as much as any sportsman does and I'm glad he has his BBC job, I even enjoy the other shows he has done on the BBC. As for English players diving, of course they do, everyone does. However, it is still not as common amongst English players or players in English leagues as it is in Europe or South America.

Sorry, but no. England certainly had the worse of the officials tonight. How England managed to have two players booked and Hungary had none, despite bad tackles, handballs and the lot I'll never know. Let's not attack our own team here.

That is sorta why he is funny though.