Phew! Theo Walcott was five minutes away from starting for England in their next match. If Sweden hadn’t scored in the 85th minute to beat Paraguay 1-0, the result of Tuesday’s England v Sweden match would have been meaningless for England, and Walcott would have been certain to play.
Now both England and Sweden can tie on Tuesday. If so, both teams will go through and England will be top of the group.
But, think about this scenario:
Before England play their match against Sweden on Tuesday, they’ll know the result of the Germany against Ecuador game from earlier that day. Therefore, both England and Sweden will know what it’ll take to play either the host country or Ecuador in the next round.
So if Ecuador end up in first place in Group A, will England lose on purpose to ensure that they won’t have to play Germany in the next round, and play Ecuador instead? What do you think??
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think both will be going for the win regardless of the outcome of the Germany vs Ecuador match.
Ecuador are no pushover so I think both teams will go for the win and try to maintain a postive spirit. There’s a bit of rivalry between England and Sweden as they’ve been matched up at the last few tournaments so no one will want to concede anything. The most likely result is a draw which would leave England at the top of the group.