England Is Just Too Good!

More possum-playing by the representatives of a world power. For the benefit of England, apparently the most easily bamboozled side on the planet.

Now it is Chelsea's Italian coach who is buttering up the desperate-for-approval English.

Carlo Ancelotti says England is just too good this time around. Better than the overmatched Azzurri side, which is "in transition," Ancelotti sadly concedes.

And 50 million Englishmen are nodding and thinking, "Ah, yes, another guy recognizes that it's our year!"

When they ought to be thinking ...

"We're not dim enough to be sucked in by the syrupy praise of the Italians as well as the Germans, are we?"

We have been over this before. It is one of the running themes of this blog. South Africa crime. South Africa politics. Julius Malema. Club vs. country.

And everyone and his brother (aside from Steven Pienaar) talking up the English.

To review: How many World Cups have the Germans won? Three. How many have the Italians won? Four. How many has England won? One. Still. Even with craftier blokes like the Germans and Italians ready to hand the "don't mean nothin'" pre-World Cup championship to the Three Lions.

Hey, England fans. These guys are messing with your heads. Don't listen. Perhaps recall your infinite disappointments since 1966. Don't assume, don't expect. Keep your powder dry and worry about getting out of the group before you plot your path to the semifinals -- and beyond.

Far better to be pleasantly surprising than bitterly disappointed. Again. Read more!