** By Andy Cole 30 June 2010 So now we know the World Cup quarter-final line-up, and two teams have really stood apart for me so far: Argentina and Brazil, in that order. Coming into the tournament there were so many questions and doubts about Diego Maradona’s team and about him, temperamentally. They didn’t qualify […]

** By Andy Cole 17 June 2010 Every team has now played at least one match at the World Cup and only one nation has really impressed me: Germany. It’s not just the goals they scored against Australia – and we’re all drawn to goals – but the way they went about their business in […]

By Andy Cole in Johannesburg 11 June 2010 The World Cup is probably going to be won by Brazil, with Spain and Argentina absolutely capable of lifting the trophy too. I expect the final to feature Brazil and one of the others. I think England, with a fair wind, could get as far as the […]

By Andy Cole 4 June 2010 Fabio Capello’s England squad held no surprises for me (Theo Walcott didn’t deserve to go), and just one disappointment: Darren Bent’s omission. The Sunderland striker could not have done any more at club level to warrant inclusion, having scored 24 Premier League goals this season, so I can only […]

By Andy Cole 28 May 2010 England’s phoney war of pre-World Cup friendlies has just one more skirmish left – this weekend’s match against Japan – but there are still questions to answer all over the pitch. The most problematic of those in my view is not a new dilemma but one of the oldest: […]

By Andy Cole 22 May 2010 . Cardiff have reached today’s £90m play-off final for one particular reason: they’ve scored more goals this season than in recent years, and a lot of those goals have come at important times and been crucial in sealing wins by a one-goal margin, or nicking a point in a […]

By Andy Cole 14 May 2010 Seven players from Fabio Capello’s 30-man provisional World Cup squad will miss out and I know how it feels to come close but not go. I’ve been there, done that, twice, more of which in a moment. Some of Capello’s 30 are certain to get the nod: all three […]

By Andy Cole 7 May 2010 Peter Crouch capped a fantastic season for Tottenham on Wednesday with the goal that takes Spurs into the Champions League for the first time. We can assume Crouch is a certainty for Fabio Capello’s England squad for the World Cup, a subject to which we’ll return shortly. First, though, […]

By Andy Cole 30 April 2010 We can argue “if this” and “if that” but let’s face facts: the Premier League title race will be settled by what happens when Chelsea play at Liverpool on Sunday. If Chelsea win, the title is as good as theirs. If they don’t, it’s Manchester United’s. Spare me the […]

Andy Cole 23 April 2010 I’m delighted that Newcastle have secured promotion back to the Premier League, and the Championship title too – that on Monday at Plymouth – but I fear that unless they spend some serious cash they’ll be going back down. Why? Because their squad could not hack it the last time […]