Hodgson Remains Humble After Win

[Folami David]

Having successfully steered England to next year's World Cup, one of manager Roy Hodgson's biggest tasks will be to manage expectations during the eight- month period until the tournament begins.
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As the country that gave birth to the modern game and won the World Cup in 1966, England considers itself one of international football's heavyweights, but in recent times, success has proved elusive.
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Not since 1996 have the national team reached the semifinals of a major tournament and not since 1990 have they graced the last four at a World Cup.
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The intervening years have brought nothing but false dawns and painful failures.
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Typically, England's players arrive at a tournament expressing bullish optimism about reaching the final, only to limp through the group phase and then fall at the first sizeable hurdle in the knockout rounds.
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Their record is far from dismal, but a squad containing Champions League winners in the form of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill is equipped for far better.
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Although England have only lost once over 90 minutes during Hodgson's 22-match tenure, the only sides currently in the top 25 in the Fifa ranking that they have beaten in competitive matches since 2006 are Russia, Croatia, Switzerland and Sweden.
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For members of the England set-up, attempting to establish objectives for the World Cup has proved a fool's errand in recent weeks.

[Shola Sholaz]

Roy deserves a big congratulations for this one. He has done well with the English national team so far ... Kudos 2 him!