image: eurosport.com

OK, so the Paraguay performance was mostly abysmal. Being frustrated to the point of anger afterwards, the 24 hour rule was employed, so Soccer-Weblog has had an extra day to reflect on things.

On reflection I'm still not impressed, but am willing to conceded that the heat did play a major factor. While it's true that England never really threatened after going 1-0 up in the 3rd minute, it's also true that we held on to a one goal lead against decent opposition, something England don't always do.

Still not happy with Sven's subs. Downing has a sweet left foot but hasn't really impressed for England yet. With Owen exhausted, I would have liked to see Sven let Walcott or Lennon terrify some tired Paraguayan defenders with their pace. Joe Cole could have stayed on the left, and either Lennon or Walcott could have played behind. Their pace would have forced Paraguay to sit a little deeper for the final 30 minutes instead of allowing them to come forward.

But Sven's hesitation is understandable. He didn't want to risk his relatively untried players (McLaren has at least seen Downing play regularly, and in European competition) with such a slender lead.

In some ways it's encouraging that the mad, adventurous Sven that selected a broken footed Rooney, an uncapped Lennon and an inexperienced Walcott to his World Cup squad still has enough of a conservative streak to close a game down by going one up front.

So, all is forgiven for now. But a similarly lackluster performance against a fired up Trinidad & Tobago (did you see Shaka Hislop against Sweden???) and Soccer-Weblog could jump on the anti-Sven bandwagon faster than Theo Walcott does the 100 yard dash.