2006 FIFA World Cup (TM)

Casey Stoney's England column

The consensus of opinion was that England¹s opening World Cup match against Paraguay was far from great.

True, it wasn¹t the greatest spectacle but considering our record in opening games over the years three points was all that mattered really.

Obviously Michael Owen is not as sharp as he would want too be and I¹m sure he¹s want top have 20 matches in the tank ahead of the tournament.

But he hasn¹t and, in the defence of the whole team it was coming up to 100 degrees out there on the pitch and when you lose the amount of bodyweight they did it obviously affects you.

No one said it would be easy, and it certainly wasn¹t.

I¹ll say again, the three points were massive, particularly in the light of Trinidad¹s draw with Sweden later in the afternoon.

David Beckham was solid and again proved so dangerous on the ball in and around the box and I though Peter Crouch was a handful to Paraguay all game.

Steven Gerrard seemed to be quite affected by his back injury but on the other side of the coin I though Joe Cole was out liveliest player.

I think he could be a player to watch in the tournament.

Often the other midfielders like Beckham, Gerrard and Frank Lampard take most of the plaudits but on Saturday if anything looked like happening, Joe was there or thereabouts.

Later in the day I though Trinidad were well worth of their 0-0 draw against Sweden.

Just like unfancied Ecuador [against Poland the day before] they threw themselves in front of the ball and completed a host of brave blocks and challenges.

The underdogs have nothing to lose in these games and they are going out against some of the main teams and giving it everything.

It¹s been a good start to the tournament with several of the big guns starting well.

I thought Argentina were excellent against Ivory Coast and both Holland and Germany have picked up their points too.

I think there will be some great moments ahead in this competition.