England: Won't Be Caught Up in Own Enthusiasm

It's coming full circle. The easy qualification from a weak group, the self-congratulation, the beatification of the coach, the applause for the skill and great of the players, the fevered plotting of the "easy" route to the semifinals ...

And now someone involved in English soccer has thought to remember that, hey, nothing in the 2010 World Cup is guaranteed.

English veteran Frank Lampard said he and the lads won't get caught up in the unbridled enthusiasm.

Lampard told AFP that "The experienced players who have been here before know that it doesn't really matter what you say before the tournament or what your form's like a few months before the tournament. What really matters is how you play when you get there.

"You get asked the question a million times: 'Can you win it?' And the obvious answer is, 'Yes, we can if we are playing well,' but you have to go there and win it."

What? We can't just award this one to England on the basis of being Masters of the Game and winning the 1966 World Cup?

It's good for England that at least one of its key veterans is giving voice to the realities of it all. Unreal expectations almost always lead to real disasters.