The Lost Boys: England Have Winning Mentality To Lose World Cup

In their final friendly before the big boy games, England defeated Peru 3-0 at Wembley.

This result, of course, no matter how expected it was, fueled wildly delusional assessments of the Poms' prospects in the World Cup.

Thankfully, striker Daniel Sturridge was a voice of reason:

For everyone it is not about going there [Brazil] to make the numbers up," he told ITV. "I am a winner and the players are winners -- it doesn't mean we are going to win it out there but we are winners.

I am a winner. The players are winners. We are winners. It doesn't mean we are going to win.

Winners. Who are losers.

That sounds about right.

Yes, the long-suffering, ban-inspiring hooligan nation can look forward to the usual fare: Steven Gerrard's honest but fruitless toil, Wayne Rooney's hairplugs exerting more effort than his feet, Roy Hodgson pretending to own a chair ... Moments of brilliance -- like Sturridge's gem against Peru -- promise to be few and far between.

Indeed, one can reasonably argue that the finest moment in the Three Lions' Cup campaign has already happened: