So, the big day has arrived at last! Forty years of hurt, about to be resolved, in exactly one month’s time. Yeah, right. Let’s not forget that England are only tenth in the FIFA world rankings. (But let’s not also forget that unfancied minnows Greece won Euro 2004, so anything is possible.)

One of my friends once described Eurovision as ‘like the World Cup for poufs’, and he has a point. (Except there’s possibly even more flag-waving at Eurovision these days than at any football match. It certainly felt that way this year when my view of the qualifier, in the hall, was frequently obscured by a huge Swiss flag, and Switzerland weren’t even in the qualifier, but I digress.) I am delighted, however, to be one of those people who get very excited about both events. The World Cup is here today and we’ve been told we can have the TV on in the office whenever there’s a match on, so all is right with the world. (It’s a shame the reception in the office is rubbish, but still.) Given that our German parent company is one of the major sponsors of the event, and there has been a second-by-second countdown on our intranet front page for over six months, and we have all picked online fantasy football teams to compete with our colleagues across Europe, it would have been indefensible if we had been barred from watching. (I noticed earlier this week, and pointed out to a few colleagues, that the countdown to kick-off was going to end an hour too late! It was counting down to 18:00 BST today, not 17:00 when Germany and Costa Rica really do get things going. I think our web people forgot to account for the change from GMT to BST back in March. Today, the countdown was mysteriously corrected, with an hour disappearing quite suddenly, with just a day and an hour or two to go!)

We’ve had a sweepstake in the office and I’ve drawn two Eastern European nations. I’m particularly pleased to have drawn Croatia, after supporting their Eurovision song wholeheartedly this year as my absolute favourite (and my Dad’s too on the night, as it turned out, with no prompting from me). It’s funny, but when I went shopping in Brum the day before flying to Athens, I toyed with buying a Croatian football shirt to show my support for their song. I even tried it on in a Bullring sports shop, but ended up putting it back, deciding that £31 was just a bit too much to wear a shirt for a couple of days at most in Athens. I wish I’d bought it now, and then I could wear it even more. Even in the office. I’ve also drawn Poland, but I don’t have much to say about them.

One colleague has drawn Brazil AND Germany, which I have a feeling may well be the final (if the draw allows it to work out that way – I haven’t checked).

If you’re having a sweepstake, do let us know here which team you have, so that we can laugh at you/cheer for you as the tournament progresses. For example, Stuart Kitchentable has drawn the hosts, Germany.

I’m also interested to hear from people supporting teams other than England, and from those of you who are UK citizens but not English, to find out who you’ll be supporting. Are you one of the ‘anyone who’s playing against England’ supporters? If you’re Trinidadian or Tobagan, but born in England, who will you be supporting when those two teams meet next week? These kind of issues, of nationality, race, national identity etc., fascinate me, so feel free to leave a comment. If you hate football, how are you intending to cope for the next month? By watching Big Brother? Or going on a long holiday to a country that rarely has much interest in the World Cup? Wales, for instance. Or do you actually have a life?

I have a feeling that, if the weather’s good for the next month, watching World Cup matches is going to be brilliant, mainly because we lucky people in Birmingham have this, the Fan Park, with the hugest screen in the country, food themed to fit in with the matches, and an enormous wallchart! This is within staggering distance of my house. I can’t think of a better way to watch the matches.

Here we go indeed!
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