England: An Ugly 2-0

It wasn’t pretty, but they’ll take it.

Peter Crouch scored in the 83rd minute and Steven Gerrard added a goal in injury time to lead England into the World Cup second round with a 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago.

For the second straight game, the English team looked to be sitting back on defense as opposed to attacking its opponents. Meanwhile, Trinidad & Tobago seemed to be playing for a tie, in hopes of picking up a point the same way it did against Sweden last weekend.

With a win or tie on Tuesday, England will win Group B, and possibly avoid a meeting with the home team, Germany, in the round of 16. Germany sits in second place in its group currently, but should be able to defeat Ecuador to move into first early next week.

Now I’m not even close to an expert, but of all the teams considered favorites (Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, Italy and the Czech Republic), I’d have to say that England looks the most vulnerable.

Wayne Rooney made an appearance in today’s game, but the guy broke his foot like a month ago. He can’t be fully healthy. The team’s big name striker, Michael Owen, has also struggled to regain form after an injury.