England Grind Out First Win Against Plucky Paraguay

The opening Group B game pitted England against Paraguay under a scorching sun in the FIFA World Cup Stadium Frankfurt Saturday. Both sides had injury worries coming into the game but the doubts surrounding Roque Santa Cruz and Steven Gerrard were laid to rest as both lined up for their teams from the start.

For England, the hope was for only a second win in an opening game in ten World Cup starts and three group points. For Paraguay, the objective was the scalp of one of the tournament favourites.

Making the most of their aerial and set-piece threat, England drew first blood within three minutes when David Beckham sent over a whipped-in left-flank free-kick which glanced off the Paraguayan defender Carlos Gamarra's head under pressure from Michael Owen and past goalkeeper Justo Villar. Things got worse for Villar two minutes later when the injured keeper was replaced by stand-in Aldo Bobadilla.

The match soon settled into a less vibrant pace with England bombarding the Paraguay penalty area with high balls for Peter Crouch -- as expected -- and Paraguay thundering into challenges -- as expected. A flurry of yellow cards and speculative long range shots which ended up high in the stands became the pattern by the half hour mark. It was not pretty.

Midfield battle claims creativity as its first victim

While England retained possession for most of the last fifteen minutes, there was little in the way of penetrative play or creative industry in midfield. Any attempt by Lampard and Gerrard in the middle to build a move was either smothered by Paraguay or wasted by the England men. Both teams were working hard for openings but the battle in the middle of the pitch was cancelling both teams' out.

England seemed to have settled for the lead at the break but Paraguay almost achieved parity on the stroke of half-time when Nelson Valdez fired just wide from the edge of the area.

The second half started with Paraguay throwing everything at England and enjoying a lot of the possession. Santa Cruz and Valdez pressed the England back four and the Paraguay midfield held firm as England tried to break out of the siege.

Eventually, the English started to wrest control of the game once more but were found wanting up front. Michael Owen was replaced by winger Stewart Downing, leaving Peter Crouch up front alone.

If England were hoping to smother the game and win by a single goal, they were severely underestimating the Paraguayans. As Sven Goran Eriksson's team dropped back, the South Americans gratefully took the offered advantage and set about finding a way through the congested midfield.

England shut up shop and kill off the game

While Paraguay soldiered gamely on to find the equalizer, England effectively killed off the game. Joe Cole, one of the few players to show any flair in the wasteland the game had become in the second half, made way for the defensively-minded Owen Hargreaves. If Eriksson had unveiled a banner saying "closed for business" the message would have been just as clear.

So the objective of three points was achieved but it was hardly a performance to set the tournament alight. England will have to up their game against better teams if their dream of being crowned world champions in July is to come true.