Harry's Blog

Well it's nearly upon us now, the big football party. And thankfully this time its in a timezone condusive to catching lots of the games. I'm about to set up my areal on my PC's TV card so I can watch the games while I work.

Thank goodness the actual football is about to start and we don't have to hear any more about Wayne Rooney's bloody broken foot. It sounds like he's pretty fit and will play towards the end of the group stage. So let's just get on and win this thing then.

For me the World Cup is always a two-part affair. There's the tension and despair of watching England play below par and make stupid mistakes. Then there's the joy in the football carnival, watching teams you don't see much show their stuff against opponents they've never played before.

Then there's all the fun surrounding the games such as Skinner & Baddiel's excellent World Cup podcasts that's worth some of your time.

The first match is only a couple of hours away now. And already there's been some fun as Ballack reckons he's fit to play, but Klinsman has dropped his skipper anyway. Perhaps the German team will implode in the same way the Dutch usually do.

Can England do it this time? Is France really a spent force? Which African team will engage in the most violent tackling? Will either of the two Iberian teams ever live up to their potential in a World Cup? All is about to be revealed.