The World Cup is here

The World Cup is here. And it is being played in the country synonymous with the sport. 32 teams, 64 matches etc. Four groups of death, Spain out to create history, the pressure on Brazil, the dark horses Belgium like a giant black herd / troop / stable of the black things.

So, to summarise the build-up, which has been a little bit random.

Group A features the hosts trying to bury the pain of 64 years ago, the team that could have been New Zealand and more.

Spain has won three major tournaments in a row, and they have done that despite having Fernando Torres. Can they fourpeat it? (Obviously that is not a word)

Meanwhile, in the same group, it’s not looking good for the Dutch.

How can you lie there and dream of England? There is always a fascination with England, and whether they will win the tournament, suffer humiliation, or just go out in a hilarious penalty shoot-out. Here is the Group D preview.

In that group is Italy. Most probably the most famous non-final World Cup ever played was in Spain 1982; Italy 3 – Brazil 2. Giovanni looks back at what that meant to him; backed up by YouTube research.

Not a lot has been said about Group F, but that’s an eclectic mix of troubled countries, and you’d need to have rocks in your soul not to hope that Bosnia-Herzegovina don’t make it through to the knockout rounds.

Enjoy