The World Cup so far

Now that we have seen every team play in this World Cup the most important thing we have learned is that England do not look that bad compared to the other hotly tipped teams.

Steven Gerrard was immense against USA and if he carries on playing like that and leading England from the front then there is no reason why he could not take us all the way. The hardest game in the group stage is out of the way and looking at Slovenia and Algeria we should walk it, even with Rob Green's freak accident.

Same goes for Spain. Even though they lost to Switzerland today they would still fancy themselves to beat Honduras and Chile (although Chile were one of the most impressive so far).

Brazil were not outstanding against North Korea, whose crying forward epitomised what the World Cup is about for these smaller nations, but got the job done. The tasty clash will be when they play Portugal, who have left that group looking interesting after the draw with Ivory Coast.

Italy only managed a draw and with their goalkeeper a doubt it looks ominous for them, although the competition in that group is poor so, like England they have the toughest group game out of the way with a point from it.

I didn't get to see Argentina but by all accounts they could have got six or seven against the Super Eagles. They obviously have one of the strongest teams, especially going forward, on paper so it will be interesting to see what happens to them, as nobody seems to trust their manager.

Germany looked class and by far the best of the big teams so far. They got lucky with the Cahill sending off and some have compared their performance to ours, with Australia possibly on a par with USA. However, USA have more European established players than Oz and got their goal with a stroke of luck. Plus you can see what the game meant to them against a kind of old enemy with the New York Post headline USA Wins 1-1. If Australia played us they would probably look more up for it with the Ashes rivalry and so on. That apart, Germany still brushed the Socceroos aside and looked very, very good. Klose and Podolski, who couldn't buy a goal last season, looked up for it on the biggest stage.

France were poor in a poor game and did not look like a team fighting to win the World Cup. It was fitting that Henry didn't get a handball decision (and it was the right one) but the France Uruguay game highlighted a worry that a lot of fans have after this first round of games, that there aren't enough goals.

That maybe true, but we have still had drama and enjoyment - especially from the fans blowing their vuvuzelas - and there is plenty more football to come. We all hope for more goals but some want an end to the vuvuzelas, which, it was decided this week, will not be banned for the World Cup. I understand why some don't like them, when you turn on the radio it sounds like a bad reception, but when is Africa going to get it's next World Cup? Let the fans have their fun.