Mind you, they can't but improve on this performance and I take on board the fact that it was a sweltering hot day and that can be a seriously inhibiting factor. But there are too many things not working in this England team to expect them to be still standing at the cutting edge of the competition.

Michael Owen is one. His principal asset has always been his lightning pace, but that has not come back after his latest injury. Ashley Cole is another who hasn't returned from injury as good as new and with David Beckham always something short in this regard, there is little chance of getting behind a defence and causing panic.

Paraguay didn't have any great resolve in this game and their lack of width meant they failed to fully exploit possession in the second half when they had England on the back foot. Sven probably did the right thing on the day by protecting a fortuitous 1-0 lead by crowding midfield.

Oh for a touch of Rooney yesterday though. The game desperately needed his vision, flair and creativity to turn build-up play into serious attempts on goal. He does more than that, of course, because he worries defences by running at them and past them. Without him, England lose their fear factor because his play makes others around him better. Yesterday with Lampard and Gerrard stifled by the change in role from their normal club play, you wonder where will the inspiration come from. Indeed on the evidence of the first two days, I'm not sure if Germany, despite their shortcomings, are not a better bet to go further.

Yes, I know what I've said about the Germans and quite truthfully, many of those misgivings were there to see. But they played in an extremely positive way, and Jurgen Klinsmann has pinned his managerial career on being attack-minded. I'm not an advocate of a defence playing offside, I just think with so many quick forwards and good passers nowadays, a system like is just too risky.

The understanding between the right back, Arne Friedrich and the two centre-backs, Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker was so poor, that a journeyman centre-forward like Paolo Wanchope was made to look a top-class striker.

After two years in the job, Klinsmann has to take a certain amount of the blame for a lack of harmony at the back, but when you think about the unbelievably naive way Metzelder defended for Wanchope's second goal, what can a manager do about that?

I wasn't overly impressed with Lukas Podolski either and he took on too many longrange shots for my liking, but down the left-hand side, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger were good, and both Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski were able and enthusiastic, but I certainly didn't see enough class to win the World Cup.

They should qualify, especially given that Michael Ballack should be fit enough to return for the remaining games, although it won't be easy because Ecuador and Poland struck me as quick, physical teams who are both better than Costa Rica.

Although there might be a perception that the Germans have got off to a flying start, there's no guarantee they'll top the group, and no guarantee they'll get beyond the last 16 as long as they continue to play with a death wish at the back. But then you look at what England had to offer yesterday, and suddenly you feel that Germany might have more ambition. And a bit more pace in their team, which is vital at this level, if you want to achieve anything.