Among sports pursued on the European side of the pond, football probably has the biggest element of luck. Certainly more than cricket; infinitely more than rugby. Accordingly Alanabit is overly pessimistic about England's prospects.

FIFA's next rule change should be to widen the goalposts by, say, 30cm and raise the crossbar by a few mil. That would result in many more goals in a typical 90min - often 10-15 - without affecting the game as we know it. We would then have a better measure of relative strengths, and the Yanks would at last be won over!