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Monday, June 28, 2010

Sol Campbell could have prevented England's World Cup humbling

Although most England fans will currently be in a self-pitting hungover malaise following yesterday's 4-1 humbling by Germany, one man could be forgiven a wry smile.

Sol Campbell made a shock return to Arsenal in January and he was more than a little disappointed not to make a surprise return to the England line up ahead of the World Cup.

Now, having witnessed some truly shocking defending in the side's last 16 game against their old rivals, he will feel even more certain he should have been given the nod.

And perhaps he has a point. On various occasions yesterday the entire back four were caught out of position and Germany (now 6/1 in the World Cup football betting) were able to leap on their mistakes.

Admittedly, Campbell wouldn't have been able to sprint back had he drifted out of position, but then it's highly unlikely he would have needed to.

In his games for Arsenal at the end of last season he showed that although he's lost a yard of pace, he has lost none of the positional sense that makes a centre-back World Class.

The English backline also lacked leadership and organisation, something an experienced pro like Campbell would have brought to the side. John Terry may be a former England captain, but it certainly didn't seem like that on Sunday. The World Cup betting odds made the Three Lions favourites for the game, but they were utterly humiliated.

Of course, Campbell's chance has past now and there's no way he'll ever be selected for the England side again. This World Cup was his only hope of adding to his 73 caps. However, Fabio Capello was willing to drag Jamie Carragher out of international retirement so he should at least given Big Sol due consideration.

As it is, Campbell stayed at home and although it seems unlikely he could have lifted the England side to victory, he certainly would have helped them avoid such an ignominious defeat.

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