World Cup ambitions Me and some of my 'soccer' loving pals stateside are considering a trip to Germany next year for the World Cup. It is always something I have wanted to do but have been put off largely by the threat of trouble.

Of course this is still a major issue and something my American chums can't contemplate, particularly after witnessing the party like atmosphere in Chicago before, during and after the USA v England friendly in May.

There are of course other things to consider such as cost, ticket availability and the fact that talk is cheap. I am actually thinking about proposing on not following the England games and just holing ourselves up in somewhere like Nuremberg and watching Togo or someone, befriend the locals and watch the English games on the box. To me that would be a wonderful experience on its own.

I guess we will talk about this more seriously in the coming weeks but it is of course a relief that we have qualified. I remember USA 1994 being a depressing time after our failure to make the finals.

From what I see and hear Luke Young had a very good game on Saturday and he will break Chris Powell's record tomorrow night if, as expected, he overcomes a dead-leg.

Rooney will obviously replace the stick-insect (christ if only Carl Leaburn had been born 10 years later, it would be him beating Powell's record) and we can only hope that Eriksson allows Benty his first cap late on. His arse has been well and truly stuck to the bench for the past 4 Internationals and I'm worried about wood worm.

Meanwhile Jerome Thomas will make his 2nd appearance for the U21's tonight against Poland at Hillsborough.  ¶ 11:24