England-Paraguay

A Beckham free kick from about 40 yards out turned into a goal for England when the Paraguayan captain accidentally deflected the ball into the goal with his head. Own goals are part of the game...although I'm happy to say that in my many years as a defender, I never suffered an own goal.

Parguay's goalie apparently aggravated some back spasms by sliding to clear a through ball. As he limped off the field, he was crying. Tough luck for him to both suffer a goal (not his fault) and have to leave the pitch. I'm sure I'd be crying too.

England is mostly controlling the pace and the game. The TV commentators said that the Parguayan captain said a few times that England was the third best team in their group. Yeah right. England is stacked, even without Wayne Rooney.

I'm definitely hoping to see Michael Owen explode this World Cup. We saw what he can do in Euro 2000. I want to really see him make a name for himself. Same could be said for Beckham too, who has never really had great international tourneys.

35th minute -- So far, Paraguay has rather set back, and hasn't really tried to counter-attack. Instead, they've tried to take possession and slowly build. They simply haven't been able to hold the ball long enough to gain any territory so far. England hasn't really had any great chances either though, despite possessing the ball around the box a few times.

55th minute -- 10 minutes in, no real chances. Paraguay had one good one, and has controlled more of the game so far this half.

61st minute -- if they say "with that phenomenal crossing ability" about Beckham one more time, and I'm going to put the TV on mute.