England reach the World Cup Finals (just)! So not all doom and gloom!

ENGLAND have reached the 2006 World Cup finals. I personally think that England fans have more to celebrate than they perhaps realise. Come along now, your team is in the World Cup. The reaction to the news of Sven-Goran Eriksson's side booking their tickets to Germany next summer has been muted to say the least. Come on England get yourself motivated, to prove to everyone you are truly world class!

The feel-good factor was not helped by the fact that England's mediocre showing in beating Austria today did not earn qualification - that came several hours later as the Dutch beat the Czech Republic 800 miles away.

Great drama - in the manner of David Beckham's last-minute free-kick against Greece in 2001 which secured the place in the 2002 World Cup - it was not. Plus, it was raining. If they want to live up to media expectation they will have to do a lot better than this in 2006! I am a optimist and I believe they will do better, however whether they can win the World Cup I am not really that sure, but here's to hoping that Summer 2006 lives up to Englands expectations!