Just watched England trounce a completely overmatched Jamaican side in their final warm-up before the World Cup. Yes, it was the easy match everyone expected it to be, but 6-0? At least that’s the proper way to head into the tournament. You have to feel the ridiculously overrated US team would have somehow scraped out a 1-0 with Jamaica and acted liked they were going to Disney World right after. That’s the difference between a quality team, though admittedly not a great one, and a merely average one. England actually used these matches to tune-up. The US looks tuned-out.

And what about Peter Crouch? I’ve always been one of his biggest critics. I just couldn’t fathom how he was chosen over either of the Bent’s. Right now, I’m happier with him up front than Mickey Owen. On the receiving end of Beckham’s set pieces, there may be no better combination. He’s rubbish at penalties, but he won’t be taking them anyway unless there’s a shoot-out–and England lose those regardless.

It’s easy to be optimistic after a 6-0 thrashing. We’ll see what the real state of things are in another week.