Hard to see England playing for a point

ONE of the most stirring pieces of music in my record collection is a version of There'll Always Be An England by the 1970 England World Cup squad.

Every time I hear the likes of Bobby Moore, Alan Ball and Jackie Charlton belting out the line "if England means as much to me as England means to you" I feel a bit guilty because England probably
doesn't mean as much to me as it did to people in the olden days.

I think 1970 qualifies as the olden days, given that most of my kids' school history projects seem to be about the cultural significance of East 17 and Wimbledon winning the FA Cup.

The point I'm trying to make is that I wouldn't normally lump on England in major tournaments but I reckon they're cracking value to beat Ukraine.

I know a draw's good enough but the way England defended set-pieces against Sweden, I doubt if they're going to sit back and hope for a point. With Wayne Rooney back – hopefully alongside Danny ‘super-flick' Welbeck, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott – they're well set up to counter-attack against a very limited Ukraine side.

So there'll be no need to discover tonight whether England means as much to me as my wallet means to me.