Lee Dixon said prior to last night's England defeat to Germany "this England squad is on the verge of something special, we will win something in 15 years"! 15 YEARS?
England hardly troubled the German Reserve side the entire match, and if there was one thing which Germany coach Joachim Low was disappointed about, it was that he had to wait right up until the final whistle to be assured of victory.
According to Low, his side should have finished England off sooner and not left them with a sniff of a chance right to the very end.
"We should have made it 2-0 and decided the game earlier," he said. "That's what bothered me a bit, but we were very, very composed on the ball and switched well between defence and attack with everybody helping out defensively.
"You never got the feeling that England were capable of outplaying us."
Low used the final international friendly of 2013 to try out a few different options, leaving captain Philipp Lahm and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer behind in Munich and handing Roman Weidenfeller his first cap between the posts.
However, more than a test, Weidenfeller spent much of the game as a spectator, watching only one Andros Townsend shot beat him, but hit the post.
"There wasn't that much for me to do as a goalkeeper today," Weidenfeller told Germany's ARD television.
"Long may it continue. I'm delighted to have been involved and am letting it all sink in. A 1-0 win in Wembley - it doesn't get much better than this."
WORLD CUP RUN DOWN ...
QUALIFIERS
The 32 teams who will compete in Brazil include Bosnia-Herzegovina, who will be making their debut in the finals.
The full list of qualifiers is:
Europe: Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland
South America: Argentina, Brazil (hosts), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay*
Africa: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea
North & Central America/Caribbean: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA
(* With a five-goal lead after the first leg of their play-off with Jordan, Uruguay are expected to confirm their place on Wednesday).
FINALS DRAW
The draw for next summer's World Cup finals takes place on Friday December 6 in Costa do Sauipe at 1600 GMT.
England will not be among the seeds so could be drawn in the same group as hosts Brazil or holders Spain.
As hosts, Brazil were automatically seeded and have already been placed in Group A, taking spot A1 in the draw. Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Uruguay - the latter barring a miraculous result in the second leg of their play-off on Wednesday - have also been seeded on the basis of their FIFA ranking.
Joining England as non-seeds are traditional football powerhouses Italy, Netherlands and France, plus many people's dark horses for success, Belgium.
With teams to be placed into eight groups of four, the draw will see the qualifiers split into four pots with the seeds in pot A.
The other pots - B, C and D - will be determined upon "sports and geographic factors". For example, two sides from Africa will not be allowed to be drawn in the same group so all the African qualifiers will likely be in the same pot. The exact make-up of these pots will be decided at a meeting of FIFA's World Cup Organising Committee on December 3.
WHEN AND WHERE
The finals themselves take place in Brazil from Thursday June 12 to Sunday July 13 next year.
With kick-off times ranging from 1700 BST to 0200 BST, UK-based fans will be in for some late nights. However, the majority of games start at either 1700 BST or 2100 BST, while the final is a 2000 BST kick-off.
Matches will take place at 12 venues around the country - Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo.
The opening game, which will feature the hosts, will take place in Sao Paulo, with the final in Rio's Maracana stadium - the biggest of the grounds with a capacity of 73,531.
Dec 3: Finals draw pots announced
Dec 6: Finals draw made
Dec 8: Ticket sale reopens
May 13: 30-man squad list deadline
Jun 2: Final 23-man squad list deadline
Jun 12: Finals begin
Jul 13: World Cup final
BETTING
Hosts Brazil, who won the Confederations Cup on home soil this summer, are Sky Bet's 100/30 favourites at present.
Germany are the second favourites at 5/1, while holders Spain are offered at 11/2, the same price as Argentina.
England are joint eighth favourites at 25/1, the same price as Colombia, Uruguay and France. Those odds put them behind Belgium (16/1), Italy (16/1) and the Netherlands (18/1) in the betting.
The full list of odds is available on Sky Bet's website.
BUILD-UP
More friendlies are scheduled for March 5. England will host Denmark, who failed to qualify for the finals, at Wembley on that date. That game will be Roy Hodgson's last chance to assess his players before naming his 30-man squad for Brazil.
The qualifiers will all play warm-up games between May 26 and June 11 to fine-tune their preparations for Brazil. Hodgson's men are due to play a game at Wembley before crossing the Atlantic, while a USA v England clash in that period has already been mooted.
TICKETS
Almost 1.1million tickets for the tournament have already been sold.
For those still fancying a trip to Brazil, the sale process will reopen on December 8 - two days after the draw has been made - when tickets to all matches will be sold using a ballot system.
Members of the official England supporters' club, englandfans, will be able to apply for tickets for England's games via the FA once the draw for the finals has been conducted.
Full details of ticketing can be found on FIFA's website.
SQUADS
Each country will be able to take a 23-man squad to Brazil. These must be named by June 2.
Before then, the finalists must give FIFA a 30-man list by May 13 - two days after the Premier League season finishes. The final 23 must be chosen from this list.
Replacements can only be made after the deadline due to injury and such a change must be approved by FIFA. This happened in the England camp prior to the last World Cup when Rio Ferdinand was injured in training and was replaced by Michael Dawson.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES ...
Saturday November 23
12:45 Everton v Liverpool
15:00 Arsenal v Southampton
15:00 Fulham v Swansea City
15:00 Hull City v Crystal Palace
15:00 Newcastle United v Norwich City
15:00 Stoke City v Sunderland
17:30 West Ham United v Chelsea
Sunday November 24
13:30 Manchester City v Tottenham
16:00 Cardiff City v Man Utd
Monday November 25
20:00 West Brom v Aston Villa
IDEAL FOR CHRISTMAS
MAGPIES IN EUROPE -
HARVEY TO PARDEW
Although NUFC are not talking to the Chronicle or Sunday Sun ... we are!
And the full story is expected to be in newspapers within the next two weeks.
The official new title is "Magpies In Europe - Harvey To Pardew" and is an up-dated version of "From Antwerp To Zurich" - which includes the 14 Europa League fixtures we played last season.
The 280-page book features match reports from the 134 European matches Newcastle United have played, starting with the memorable 4-0 win over Feyenoord in 1968 on our European debut.
Included are stats and the figures you would expect, but also each away fixture has the remarkable experiences of individuals who travelled to watch the matches.
Introduction by "Big Bad" John McNamee, part of the Fairs Cup winning team of 1969.
It is a fascinating history that every Newcastle United fan will enjoy.
And with a limited print-run, make sure you order a copy.
Mail order: Send a cheque for £10.45 made payable to K.Fletcher to:
K Fletcher, 5 Dunelm, Sacriston, Durham DH7 6NU
Include your own address.
ON SALE NOW AT: M&M City News; 140 Northumberland St, Newcastle NE1 7DQ.
The Flower Shop, Spennymoor, Co Durham.
RRP: £10.95
if you want to order, contact us:- Kevnumad@fsmail.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWCASTLE UNITED 2013/14
PREMIER LEAGUE
TOTTENHAM 0 NEWCASTLE UTD 1 (Remy)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, Sissoko, Cabaye, Tiote, Gouffran (85' Obertan), Remy (75' Cisse), Shola Ameobi (60' Anita).
Subs: Coloccini, Ben Arfa, Elliot, Sammy Ameobi
NEWCASTLE UTD 2 CHELSEA 0 (Gouffran, Remy)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, Sissoko, Cabaye, Tiote (53' Anita), Gouffran (85' Obertan), Shola Ameobi (62' Cisse).
Subs: Ben Arfa, Elliot, Sammy Ameobi, Tavernier.
SUNDERLAND 2 NEWCASTLE 1 (Debuchy)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Dummett, Santon, Sissoko (45' Cisse), Tiote, Cabaye, Gouffran (86' Sammy Ameobi), Ben Arfa, Remy (70' Shola Ameobi).
Subs: Anita, Haidara, Elliot, Obertan.
NEWCASTLE UTD 2 LIVERPOOL 2 (Cabaye, Dummett)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, Cabaye (78' Sammy Ameobi), Tiote, Gouffran, Sissoko (45' Dummett), Remy, Ben Arfa (78' Anita).
Subs: Cisse, Elliot, Obertan, Dummett.
CARDIFF CITY 1 NEWCASTLE 2 (Remy 2)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Tiote, Cabaye (86' Ben Arfa), Gouffran, Sissoko, Remy (71' Gutierrez), Cisse
Subs: Anita, Yanga-Mbiwa, Elliot, Sammy Ameobi, Dummett
EVERTON 3 NEWCASTLE 2 (Cabaye, Remy)
Krul, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa (46' Williamson), Coloccini, Santon, Tiote, Anita (69' Cisse), Ben Arfa (46' Cabaye), Sissoko, Gouffran, Remy
Subs: Elliot, Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Dummett
NEWCASTLE 2 HULL CITY 3 (Remy 2)
Krul, Debuchy (86' Tiote), Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Cabaye (62' Gouffran), Anita, Sissoko, Ben Arfa, Cisse (73' Marveaux), Remy
Subs: Williamson, Elliot, Sammy Ameobi, Dummett
ASTON VILLA 1 NEWCASTLE 2 (Ben Arfra, Gouffran)
Krul, Debuchy, Coloccini, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, Anita (74' Tiote), Cabaye (88' Sammy Ameobi), Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Remy (63' Gouffran), Cisse
Subs: Elliot, Marveaux, S Taylor, Dummett
NEWCASTLE 1 FULHAM 0 (Ben Arfa)
Krul, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Anita 65' (Cabaye), Marveaux 74' (Remy), Shola Ameobi 65' (Gouffran), Cisse
Subs: Gosling, Elliot, Sammy Ameobi, Dummett
NEWCASTLE 0 WEST HAM 0
Krul, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Anita, Marveaux 66' (Sammy Ameobi), Shola Ameobi, Cisse 72'
Subs: Gosling, Bigirimana, Elliot, Vuckic, Dummett
MAN CITY 4 NEWCASTLE 0
Krul, Debuchy, Coloccini, S Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Sissoko, Tiote, Gouffran 45+4' (Dummett), Ben Arfa 65' (Sammy Ameobi), Gutierrez 44' (Anita), Cisse
Subs: Elliot, Marveaux, Shola Ameobi, Obertan
LEAGUE CUP
NEWCASTLE 0 MAN CITY 2 (AET)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Haidara (45 Dummett, 80 Ben Arfa), Anita, Tiote, Gouffran, Sissoko, Shola Ameobi (66 Cabaye), Cisse
Subs: Remy, Elliot, Obertan, Sammy Ameobi
NEWCASTLE 2 LEEDS UTD 0 (Cisse, Gouffran)
Krul, Debuchy, Williamson, Coloccini, Dummett, Gouffran (90' Vuckic), Anita (80' Gosling), Tiote, Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Cisse (71' Obertan).
Subs: Ben Arfa, Yanga-Mbiwa, Bigirimana, Alnwick
MORECAMBE 0 NEWCASTLE 2 (Shola Ameobi, Sammy Ameobi)
Elliot, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Good, Dummett, Bigirimana, Gosling, Marveaux 88' (Sissoko), Vuckic 46' (Shola Ameobi), Sammy Ameobi, Gouffran 71' (Ben Arfa)
Subs: Santon, Anita, Alnwick, Streete
Newcastle United Fixtures
Saturday November 23
15:00 Premier League
Newcastle United v Norwich City
Saturday November 30
17:30 Premier League
Newcastle United v West Brom
Wednesday December 4
19:45 Premier League
Swansea City v Newcastle United
Saturday December 7
12:45 Premier League
Man Utd v Newcastle United
Saturday December 14
15:00 Premier League
Newcastle United v Southampton
Saturday December 21
15:00 Premier League
Crystal Palace v Newcastle United
Thursday December 26
15:00 Premier League
Newcastle United v Stoke City
Sunday December 29
13:30 Premier League
Newcastle United v Arsenal
Wednesday January 1 2014
15:00 Premier League
West Brom v Newcastle United