Sports Letters: England for '98

Sir: Is it a coincidence that England got to the semi-finals of the worst World Cup in living memory but did not take part in one of the best?

Then again, England are now due to win in France in 1998 by the symmetrical sequence of recent winners in chronological order: England (1966), Brazil (1970), Germany (1974), Argentina (1978), Italy (1982), Argentina (1986), Germany (1990), Brazil (1994), England (1998?).

Yours,

NIK NICOL

Richmond, Surrey