England don't scare us, says Santa Cruz

By Doom127
in The Sporting Arena

 Share

Recommended Posts

Contributor

Doom127

Posted
Posted

Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz has warned group rivals England against expecting an easy passage through to the FIFA World Cup? knockout rounds.

The Bayern Munich star has recovered from a cruciate ligament injury that saw him miss most of the Bundesliga season and is likely to line up in attack for the South Americans. And the 24-year-old centre-forward cannot wait to have a crack at rivals England in Group B's opening match on 10 June as the Paraguayans aim to qualify for the last 16 for the third tournament in succession.

Though Sven-Goran Eriksson's team are favourites to top their group, Santa Cruz believes the expectation may weigh heavily on English shoulders. "The group is good for us, there are many that are far worse," Santa Cruz said in an interview earlier this year.

"People get very excited when they see you are drawn against England because they have all these superstars. Maybe some people think we are unlucky to get them in our group. I don't see it that way. What about the teams who are playing Brazil or Germany in their group? Do you think they are saying 'fantastic, at least we didn't get drawn against England'?

"Out of all the top teams we could have had in our group England are probably the best one for us. Before every World Cup there is always a lot of talk about England but they never perform to their expectations."

A tall and rangy centre-forward, Santa Cruz stood out from an early age, finishing several seasons as top scorer during his childhood with Olimpia in Paraguayan capital. He was elevated to the club's senior ranks as a 16-year-old, and he helped them win back-to-back titles in his first two years as a professional in 1998 and 1999, when he was Paraguay's player of the year.

He signed for Bayern in 1999 and has been a fixture at the German champions ever since, although he was struggling to command a regular first-team place when he was injured. The Paraguayan's experience of German football has left him tipping the host nation to emerge as one of the key teams next month's finals, and he rates them as a bigger threat than England.

"For me, Germany are far more dangerous," the Paraguayan said. "Even when they are not in form they can fight to get important results and perform better than is expected."

Santa Cruz has also become a cult figure in Germany, and even had a pop song 'Ich, Roque' recorded in his honour by a rock band. And if things go according to plan in Germany, Santa Cruz will be giving his fans plenty to sing about.

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060515/6/6sgc.html

Grand Master

Martyn

Posted
Posted

Santa Cruz is a good player, but he has not really got that much better than he was four years ago. I remember when England beat Paraguay 4-1 in a friendly just before the last World Cup, so I think we have a good chance against them, but I am not taking anything for granted.

I love the war of words between footballers. The best one was that player who said Beckham is a scaredy cat :rofl:!

EDIT: I found it :D!

Paraguay international Delio Toledo has fanned the flames ahead of his side's World Cup date with England in bizarre fashion by branding captain David Beckham a 'chicken.'

Toledo, who is contracted to Real Zaragoza, has launched a remarkable attack on the Real Madrid star, branding him a coward.

Toledo insists he has the measure of Beckham having come up against him in Liga action.

The Three Lions take on the South Americans on June 10 and Toledo is relishing the opportunity to do battle with Sven Goran Eriksson's side and a tussle with Beckham.

"He is a chicken, when you fight for possession against him he jumps out of the way," said Toledo.

"I don't have any problem in playing hard against him to take the ball and not letting him have it easy."

Toledo believes Beckham is integral to England's hopes but believes his threat can be negated.

"They depend on what Beckham does but as he is a chicken we can get a positive result from that match," he continued.

Despite his rebuke of the 31-year-old, Toledo concedes the former Manchester United star is a talented performer.

"Beckham plays very well. He knows how to hit the ball into dangerous areas. I know him well so I know how to play against him in the World Cup," he added.

"I want to play against him so I hope the coach selects me."

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Veteran

M.F.D.K

Posted
Posted

England will kick ass, and win the bloody world cup you will all see, ive seen this in my dream, we beat argentina in the final after beating brazil in the semi and argentina beating france ;)

good dreams usually remain dreams :p but i'd like to see England win coz its the country i live and i support ;)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Classic Outlook vs New Outlook — Which one do you prefer and why?

      By spacelordmaster · Posted

      Who uses Outlook anymore? Seriously. When you have open-source and completely free clients such as Thunderbird, Outlook is really obsolete now.
    • This Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 32GB RAM with RGB is a great deal for limited time

      By spacelordmaster · Posted

      "Low price of just $340" ? I don't think so, especially when these same memories were less than $100 just last year before the AI craze started.
    • Spyro: A Realm Beyond revealed by Toys for Bob, the first new entry after almost 20 years

      By LoneWolfSL · Posted

      Spyro: A Realm Beyond revealed by Toys for Bob, the first new entry after almost 20 years by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The Xbox Games Showcase had a surprise reveal from Activision that wasn't related to Call of Duty. The Microsoft-owned publisher revealed a brand-new Spyro game, confirming the return of the series that last had a brand-new entry appear nearly 20 years ago. Watch the new Spyro: A Realm Beyond trailer above, which shows off a new look for the iconic dragon. While most of the trailer is a rendered cinematic, the very end does feature a snippet of gameplay captured on PC. The development team working on this project is Toys for Bob. This is the same studio that delivered the Spyro Reignited Trilogy remasters that brought back the original games for fans. "We are huge Spyro fans ourselves and we are so excited that 'the adventure continues'," says Toys For Bob Studio Head, Paul Yan. "I know the wait has been excruciating but we’re so thrilled to finally come out of stealth and confirm that a new Spyro game is indeed what we’ve been up to these past few years." As is evident from the trailer, Spyro has grown since his previous adventures, and that means he is better at flying too. Players will be able to fly around with freedom for the first time in the series this time, and not just inside mini-levels. "In Spyro: A Realm Beyond, Spyro will experience the freedom of true dragon flight," adds Yan. "He’s small, but mighty, so we had to do a lot of different experiments to explore how he could be both nimble and still be very physical when actively pushing his way through the air." The studio promises the return of whimsical worlds to explore, with plenty of treasure and activities to find. There is a new antagonist coming in to threaten this peaceful world too. Moreover, Tom Kenny is returning to voice Spyro. Spyro: A Realm Beyond is releasing sometime in Spring 2027 across PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
    • 25th anniversary Xbox Series X unveiled with classic translucent green design

      By +witbyt · Posted

      They couldn't have done a better job, this is beautiful!
    • U.S. delegation throws away all burner phones and gifts from China before takeoff

      By AsherGZ · Posted

      Oh, of course not. The real "victims" are the people who snipe kids in the head, have killed more journalist than all the worlds wars combined, do double tap strikes on medical personnel, claim history started on October 7th, have a $700 million dollar annual Hasbara budget and pay influencers $7k a post to spout exactly this kind of propaganda. How dare you question the most moral army in the world. Victimhood belongs to these genocidal freaks alone. Anyone who denies that is literally Hitler. If you're going to support a terrorist state, the least you could do is come up with better talking points.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Proficient
      Eric Biran went up a rank
      Proficient
    • Dedicated
      Conjor earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Week One Done
      Windows Guy earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Dedicated
      Mark Spruce earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Collaborator
      conkir earned a badge
      Collaborator

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      479
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      243
    3. 3
      Steven P.
      72
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      66
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      65
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!