Some things never change (but others do)

I had big expectations to England in this World Cup, such as many, but apparently England has the same problem as Spain: they cannot handle expectations! While one has to be critical of England's match against Algeria, one has to credit the ever-underestimated Algerians, whom I cannot but have sympathy with because of their 1982 World Cup when they were unfairly eliminated by Austrian and German collusion.
But while Spain and England seem to be unexpectedly fighting for their progress to the next round, other things do seem to change: in their first match Germany played a very offensive style that gave huge expectations to their second match against Serbia, instead of the usual more controlled offensive that many connect with a "typical" German team. Another thing many connect with Germany is that they always have the luck and coldness to win a match, but their 1-0 loss to Serbia was not such a match: a rather harsh red card against Miroslav Klose limited their possibilities, but even, in the second half they missed a penalty, something Germany has not done for ages. The group is quite thrilling now, after Ghana and Australia tied 1-1, and Ghana and Germany will be one of the most interesting matches of the next round!