And so it begins....

It's begun.

The low level feeling of uneasiness that has been apparent in me for the last few days has now morphed into an all encompassing queasiness - my legs are shaking, my stomach is tied up in knots, I'm chewing pen lids like there is no tomorrow. It's that familiar feeling I get every two years when England start reaching the higher stages of the World Cup or European Championships.

I've ranted and raved about the way England have played so far but now I really don't care how we play - winning the next three games is all that matters and if we have to do that playing like Watford then so be it. Greece did it in 2004 after all.

I think by this time tomorrow I will be found gazing at a pack of Malboro Lights in a newsagent seriously considering taking up the habit again just to stop my body going into uncontrollable spasms of nervousness and excitement.

This is it. The business end of the tournament. The bit that really matters, that really hurts. When not even a cuddle from your mum can make it alright.

But I'm ready, I'm ready to cry tears of bitter disappointment once more, ready to curse Ericsson, ready to feel hollow for the next month. I'm prepared.

Fuck, who am I kidding? I'm not ready at all. I'm all over the shop. Why? Because no matter how many times it's happened before there's still an optimist in me - still some hope that we can do it this time. The hope is always what kills you. Always.

So let's hope that this year is the year when our dreams can be realised. At last.

Come on England!

Britney! Naked! At Last!

Finally! A nude Britney photo!! I've been waiting for this for years. But goddamn it she had to have it done whilst pregnant didn't she? Some men find pregnant women attractive but the only benefit of it as far as I am concerned is that it makes the breasts grow and I must say that Britney's do look fandabbydozzy in this picture. I also like the hair colour as well - adds a bit of class innit?

The wife remarked that it looks like she has lost weight but I reckon that's down to clever airbrushing. Gotta love those air brushes! I call for a whole lot more airbrushing and a whole lot less reality when it comes to my Britney. Let me keep living the dream eh?

World Cup Round Up

So, that's the 2nd round of the World Cup over and done with and I have to say it was a fairly disappointing round for football fans. Many matches finished up 1-0 and we saw very little of the creativity and attacking flair that was present in the group stage - I guess the stakes have risen considerably now and so teams are naturally more cautious. I was sad to see Ghana and Spain go out after they had contributed so much already to the tournament.

Where do I stand on my predictions? Well, half of them have fallen over. Australia didn't make the quarter finals & Italy got through their group. Still looks possible that we'll have a Germany V England final and I reckon if England can get past Portugal then Brazil will be beaten by us, they are too lax at the back in my opinion. Maybe it's destiny that 40 years on from 1966 a Germany and England final is on the cards!

The fallout from the Australia v Italy game continues with some ludicrous columns in today's press. Firstly, the LA Times reckons it was all a FIFA conspiracy to get Australia out of the tournament (and like all conspiracy theories does not any evidence for it whatsoever) and predictably The Age publishes a 'soccer is a stupid game anyway' piece. Funny how it wasn't a stupid game a few days ago eh?

The guy who writes the piece does have a few good points but his lack of knowledge of the game is there for all to see. Just because there has been some dodgy refereeing in this tournament does not mean the sport itself is a bad one. It simply means that the officiating of the game should be reformed and video technology introduced. That would see the end of the cynical game that the Italians & others play. Football is not without it's faults, what game is, but I guarantee that if Australia had been granted a penalty like that there would be no complaints at all and the author of the piece is gracious enough to admit this in his last sentence...

Australia are out!

Myself, the wife, and friends joined 25,000 other people and watched the Australia V Italy game in the centre of Melbourne yesterday. My observations on the match:

- Australia ultimately suffered due to their lack of class upfront. Viduka is a good battler but he's not the kind of player that is going to open up a well organised Italian defence. Without Kewell, Australia just lacked that special something and for all their possession they had very few chances.

- Australia were certainly the most entertaining team but I'm not sure they were the 'best' team. Italy looked a lot sharper going forward and had more clear cut chances than Australia. When they had a man (wrongly) dismisseed they reorganised and defended superbly. Yes, it was not pretty but it was very effective.

- The penalty at the end was dubious but it definitely wasn't a clear cut decision for the ref to make. However, I do believe that with 8 seconds to go the Ref should give the defending team the benefit of the doubt unless the foul was blatant.

- Australia should be proud of their country's achievement in this tournament. They've played really good football with a load of passion and have put themselves on the world stage.

As for England against Ecuador - well we scraped through again. That's all I'll say. Let's hope we raise our game against Portugal.