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It surely has a nice ring to it and would be a dream come true for the plethora of England fans who have never yet witnessed the creator of the beautiful game bring home the goods.

Although England have a pretty favourable group, with Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, and the dreaded Sweden; they will come through the group stages to the finals and then, with a bit of luck, stomp all over the opposition with verve and tenacity; if Wayne Rooney keeps his head that is.

As well as being a serious contender for the coveted Golden Boot Award, if England do indeed progress, Wayne Rooney is the key to Englands success in World Cup 2006 and the rest of the team and world know it. The guy is a physiological freak in terms of the sheer power and depth of attack in his possession and will simply rip through the best defences that any of the worlds toughest may throw his way. He already proved this in Euro 2004, Portugal, where he was a constant worry for the opposition and, of course, does so every week at Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney is simply one man, though, and cannot do the job alone; he will need pace man magician Michael Owen at his very best, Beckham curling em in sweetly from the right, Frank Lampard bulldozing through the middle and Mr Sven Goran Eriksson not doing his usual trick of messing with formations and pulling off players at the wrong moment. In fact, England hasnt had such a brilliant compilation of players in years; its whether they can gel at the right time and do what the England rugby lads did in 2003.

One thing is certain though and perhaps will never change; anyone and everyone faced with England, ups their game rate by a noticeable margin. It seems that everyone wants to beat the Auld Enemy; hardly surprising beings as the country with the once largest of empires has, at one time or another, trounced on or been instrumental in shaping the modern world as we know it. It seems logical that someone would want to get their own back by beating the national football team.

Many of the England naysayers believe that the England team lacks the personality and passion to bring home the cup. Although a personality is great for the cameras, the one ingredient that is surely more important is playing the game of football and scoring goals, and with the current England line up we have the best chance since 1966. Roll on World Cup 2006

There is a saying in our society that paradise lies beneath a mother's feet. We are reminded to honour and respect our mother because only with her forgiveness (through the imagery of kissing her feet) that we can enter heaven. Such is the level of honour given to mothers in our society.

I lost my mother 5 years ago and I never stopped hurting. At the age of 66 years, she passed away from a heart attack and suddenly the world seemed a scary place to live in. Never did I think losing a mother would leave such a hole in my life, it felt like the invisible chord was conclusively cut from within. Losing a mother literally shakes your sense of security and stability.

We had such a tempestuous relationship. In my adulthood I could not remember being hugged by my mother and I never learned to touch her like normal children do. It would be unnatural to show affection and so I never learned to kiss her.

Perhaps it was her own upbringing that made her the tough person that she was. But I should have cut her some slack and tried to understand her emotional limitation. Not that she did not give alot to her children in other areas. She demonstrated strength of character, a huge sense of responsibility, nobility and generosity.

During those hungry years, she worked hard and made sacrifices for her children. I did not see the exhaustion in her eyes, I only remember her impatience when things were a mess at home. She cooked, she washed and she worked.

I did not see the pain in her eyes when I snubbed or fought her, I only cared that I won the battle. I realized now that I won the battle because she let me.

I have been blessed with a girl of my own and perhaps this child was meant to bridge my relationship with my mother. The minute she was born, I mentally prostrated to God in appreciation of my mother. For I had come from her womb and she had carried me for nine months and I understood then that there was no love greater than a mother's love for her child. No matter what. And no matter how much I love my child, my mother loved me MORE.

In the holy book of Koran, as expressed by the messenger of God,Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) that our mothers are the most deserving of our care and attention for ," She is the one who made womb a vessel for you and nourished you from her breast. You have no option to love her..."

I am thankful that at least we had some good 5 years before her passing and towards the end, I think we finally understood each other.

Mother please forgive me and I do love you.

I am grateful that I am able to learn from this and impart to my child the importance of open affection for each other. Even though my mother is not with me on Mother's Day, I celebrate and embrace Mother's Day, in her memory.

Happy Mother's Day To All Mothers!

Noraini Maskuri is an advertising veteran and now runs her own net business. She shares her work and life experiences, by providing tips, insights, perspectives on women's issues, and helping women to rise above their problems. Subscribe to her newsletter at : http://www.selfempoweredwoman.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Noraini_Maskuri

Scratch cards are a cool way to get your youth involved in your church fundraising. They are easy to use and lots of fun for both the fundraisers (youth) and the givers.

The way scratch cards work for church fundraising is each fundraising scratch card holds sixty scratch-off circles. Each circle reveals an amount that the giver will donate to your youth church fundraiser. The largest amount that any one circle will reveal is $2.50. This guaranties that the giver will give a maximum of $2.50 for your church fundraiser per circle.

After your giver scratches off the desired number of circles they are given a coupon book loaded with valuable coupons that can be used in your area. The coupon total is usually around $75 making it a great exchange for the giver.

What really makes a scratch card fundraiser fun is your youth can be hands on involved in raising money. Announce that after church service in a week your youth will be holding a special one time scratch card fundraiser. This will give your congregation a heads up so they know to bring cash with them the following week. Then on the given Sunday have your youth go around in the fellowship hall or meeting area and ask each congregant to please scratch of a circle. Be sure to instruct your youth to guarantee that the maximum donation will be $2.50 per fundraising circle.

Then as your givers scratch off the circles your youth will collect the money and hand out the coupon books. This is a great way to have fun, involve your youth and tap into a majority of your givers.

Shauna Hanus of http://www.laetans.com builds and maintains fundraising websites for churches and small ministries. Shauna has years of experience building websites and internet marketing. For more information on how to get a free fundraising website for your church visit http://www.laetans.com.