If England don't win the World Cup, who will be the scapegoat?

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="470" caption="Blame - the British way"][/caption]

I think bookies could make A LOT of money off the above question in the upcoming World Cup finals.

I mean, every major tournament that England has failed to win, there has been someone to ease the pain of failure by taking the flak. In1998, it was David Beckham's silly red card. in 2002, it was Ronaldinho's "fluke" goal/David Seaman's ageing process. In 2006, it was Ronaldo with the infamous "winking" incident which apparently got Rooney sent off.

Every tournament, the country is not without an excuse.

This time around, it looks like we already have our potential scapegoats.

The off-field antics threatening to derail the World Cup chances á la John Terry/Wayne Bridge,  there is a lot of media scrutiny especially in the case of John Terry, never has a player's performances been under such scrutiny, you could bet the media would know if his mohican isn't quite balanced at the current rate.

40 years of hearing "England can win it", 40 years of no returns on the investment of energy and hope put into the hype.

Wayne Rooney's match-winning performances for Manchester United, has the whole country dreaming of 1966 all over again. On the other side of the spectrum, the rift between Terry and Bridge seems to be having a negative effect on his performances, (refer to Chelsea games against, Hull, Everton, Inter Milan and recently Manchester City) speaking of the rift, Wayne Bridge snubbing Terry on Saturday seemed to dent his bravado, going by his performance after the incident.

With all eyes on John Terry, what's the bet he gets the blame if it all goes wrong for England?

Perhaps the media will cite, poor timing in the revelations of his affair affecting the England camp.

Whatever happens, someone will be taking the blame.