England will beat Germany thanks to der Kaiser

Franz Beckenbauer's upto his second division mind games again.

Having declared that England had regressed to old school kick and rush after drawing with the USA, the World Cup winning captain and manager croaks that we're too knackered to take them on because of the rigours of our domestic season.

It's true our boys play at full pelt each August to May, but it's the sort of commitment Fabio Capello called for against Slovenia - and got back in spades.

And let's be clear: Germany's class of 2010 hold no fear for England. They looked ordinary in scraping past Ghana by a single goal - and there was a bit of hit und huth about them too. Au contraire as the French might say (if they were still in South Africa), Germany should be more scared of us.

Capello's absolutely right that England can now kick on without fear. The disaster headlines have now been made by other nations. Italy and France are already home in shock and ignominy respectively. Who'd have believed the two finalists of four years ago would be knocked out in the group stages?

Yes, England's World Cup campaign has launched. We're ready for the Germans. In his pre-match news conference, goalscoring hero Jermain Defoe said we'd have to beat the best to win the tournament anyway. But in Germany, their bark's bigger than their bite. Defoe believes we can win in 90 minutes.

Soccermongery says we'll win in 80!