This was the last chance of the so called ?Golden Generation? to shine at a World Cup. This was their last chance to win the greatest trophy in the sport. They failed…miserably.

Not many of this current squad will ever compete in a World Cup. And after this display, they deserve not to, considering the further embarrassment which they show their nation. By the time of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Rio Ferdinand will be 35, John Terry and Ashley Cole will be 33, Steven Gerrard will be 34 and Frank Lampard will turn 36 during the World Cup. Most, if not all, will not be at the World Cup and may be in retirement by then.

England?s easy group stage matches turned into a group of death for them. Two painstaking draws against USA and minnows Algeria left England needing a win against Slovenia. A scrappy and awful match gave England the win they craved but it pitted them against arch-rivals Germany in the 2^nd round. Already, England was confident and the signs were looking good.

However, manager Fabio Capello stuck with the poor, boring 4-4-2 system farming the inspirational captain, Steven Gerrard on the left. The decision to stick with the Terry-Upson partnership proved catastrophic when Germen hitmen Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski fired in to give the Germans a 2-0 lead.

Matthew Upson did redeem himself when he headed in a quick response to give England a lifeline. Suddenly, the shift of momentum was with England and the whole nation thought, this is our year. How wrong they could be.

Frank Lampard?s controversial disallowed goal obviously affected the outcome but the English defence was disastrously woeful when conceding two Thomas Muller goals when caught on the counter-attack. The 4-1 scoreline caused many fans? stomachs to turn having to watch that shambolic defending. It would have no doubt made the late Bobby Moore turn in his grave having to watch that excruciating piece of defending.

While the players come back home from a dismal showing, thought has to go to the next World Cup in four years. Most of the players in the current squad will have retired or will be past their prime. This will give a worrying sight to England fans and cause a decline in the English game which is already showing now with the lack of English players at the top clubs. Things have to be done to sort this mess out otherwise in the not so near future, performances at this World Cup would be considered a miracle due to lack of quality English talent being brought into the game. Is that what you want?

GOALS

Landon Donovan is no household name across Europe especially after his failed spells in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. His career lifted off and has remained in his homeland of the USA starting off at San Jose Earthquakes and now with Los Angeles Galaxy. Though he is classed as a failure in Germany, he is classed as a hero throughout USA.

Donovan is currently the captain of the L.A Galaxy having fought off competition of football icon David Beckham. He has also remained the fans favourite ahead of Beckham which is an achievement itself.

His goal-scoring record in America is impressive with both San Jose Earthquakes and L.A Galaxy. He has also managed to resurrect his career in Europe with a brief loan spell with Premier League side Everton last season. He managed 2 goals in 13 appearances. Although not spectacular, he was a catalyst in Everton?s revival with his high number of assists considering his short time in England.

Donovan has become a national hero in America due to his success with the American national football team. 43 goals in 125 appearances is quite an achievement considering the lack of quality in the side. He has also more recently been shipped out to the left or right to accommodate striker Jozy Altidore meaning Donovan finds it harder to score the goals making it even more remarkable that his strike rate hasn?t deteriorated greatly.

He first shot to prominence at the 2002 World Cup when he scored 2 goals for USA to help them progress to the quarter-finals where they unexpectedly defeated rivals Mexico in the second round with Donovan scoring one of the goals.

Donovan can become a Messi, Villa or Fabiano. He already carries the side and his country?s chances of success. It all depends on him. He has the capabilities of becoming a star player. He has the big-game temperament. He scored twice at the 2002 World Cup. He scored against Italy and Brazil at the 2009 Confederations Cup. He?s already scored at this World Cup.

At this World Cup, he revitalised the USA team against Slovenia. 2-0 down at half-time, they seemed down and out. Straight away, Donovan found himself free down the right wing. Realising no-one was in better positions, he blasted the ball into the roof of the net making it 2-1 and giving USA hope. USA managed to come back to 2-2 but should?ve won it at the end with Maurice Edu volleying Donovan?s free-kick. This denied yet another Donovan assist which is becoming more common than him scoring goals.

Plus, this is Donovan?s time to show the world what he?s capable of. He will have to carry the USA side once again if they?re to progress to the next round of the World Cup. However though, the quality in the USA side has drastically improved. Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley are the rising stars for the USA. Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard are regulars for their respective teams in the Premier League and Oguchi Onyewu is at AC Milan. This will lift the pressure off Donovan?s shoulders enabling him to concentrate on his game benefiting the USA side as well.

He has the capabilities of winning the World Cup Golden Boot. With him in his prime, there is no telling what damage he could do to the opposition. He has the chance with his talent as well as the fact that he will take USA?s penalties and free-kicks further enhancing his chances. He?ll be a good bet with punters to put in their Fantasy Football sides considering his goal-scoring exploits and vast number of assists.

Donovan would also benefit with move away from L.A Galaxy to a European giant given the opportunity. This would allow him to fulfil his true potential and be tested to see if he can really become the superstar everybody else knows he can become. He won?t be able to achieve this unless he leaves L.A Galaxy. He?s already the face of USA with many recent American wonder-kids failing catastrophically such as Freddy Adu. What has happened to him now? As well as USA can he be the face of the world?

This scenario brings into focus how you handle your transfers during this break. I can offer two bits of advice for all you fantasy premiership managers -

1) Firstly, if a player on your team is taking part in a world cup playoff match, be wary of using your transfers early on. The player may get injured, and not be available for your team on the following game week. It may be worth holding onto the transfer until after the match, and then checking on the player?s status. If they do get injured, then you can use your transfer to swap them out, instead of losing four points, to do an extra transfer. Also if you have quality substitutes, then you could also demote the injured player to the bench.

2) If the international match is a friendly match, like the England vs. Brazil match coming up; the likelihood the international players get injured is a lot less, than a competitive match. Managers generally like to experiment and do not exert the players more than normal. Also a lot of substitutes are generally used, to access all available options. Even though it is a friendly, players will still get injured -so be beware of this!

In all honesty, it is generally a good thing to save your substitution until after all the international matches ? including the friendly ones. It may save you points for being vigilant afterwards, and having a quality substitute?s bench!

Born in the Fazakerley Hospital in Liverpool, Merseyside, the boy wonder graduated from the youth academy of Everton, a local club with to which would pledge as well as break an allegiance.

He made his premier league debut for Everton in 2002, and became the youngest goal scorer in the English top flight, five days before he turned seventeen. The scorcher against the Gunners is remembered as one of the forward?s best. James Milner, and James Vaughn later surpassed the record. Even though it is not the current record, an accomplishment of this magnitude is surely worthy of remembrance.

The 2003/04 season saw the youngster become career oriented, when he spotted the incapability of his mother club to secure a European Cup spot. After a transfer request, the Toffees response was to let go of the future star for nothing less than ?50 million, and proceeded to offer him a new contract at the club. Needless to say, the offer was promptly rejected, and this led to a bidding war between Newcastle and Manchester United to procure the services of the player in question.

At one point it was rumoured that the Toon was to be the destination, for a fee of around ?18.5 million, but it was to be the Red Devils who would go on to get the signature of the Englishman for a price of ?31 million. This is one of the most expensive transfers for a player in his teenage years.

At Man United, Rooney has gone on to become a star player, with a formidable number of appearances and goals. His international career has gone well so far, with the striker showing great grit and determination in his recovery race to be fit and play in the 2006 World Cup.

As Rooney goes from strength to strength, it is to be seen as to how well the sun shines on this strong lad that currently calls Old Trafford home.

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