Lippi, Higuain Set Lofty Goals

No point in saying "we're just going to show up and see how things go," is there?

Well, that's how Marcello Lippi and Gonzalo Higuain are looking at it, anyway.

England's coach and Argentina's striker both have set some high goals for South Africa 2010, and did it within a day or so of each other, so we will combine them here.

And what do they intend, for SA2010?

For Lippi, it is England in the semifinals, "minimum."

England has been playing well, and the semifinals don't seem like that high a goal, but England last got to the final four in 1990. So it doesn't happen like clockwork.

Lippi also believes a European team will win a World Cup outside Europe for the first time, and his dream matchup would be an England-Italy final. Lippi is Italian, after all.

Meanwhile, Higuain is out to win the Golden Boot. He didn't use the expression, but he said he wants to "be the top scorer at the World Cup," and that's the Golden Boot. In English, anyway. As in-form as he has been, it's possible.

Assuming Diego Maradona doesn't do something so incredibly silly that Argentina doesn't last deep into the tournament, and Higuain doesn't get enough matches to pile up goals. That's possible, too.