Sacrebleu! Au revoir Coupe du Monde

With the group stages coming to a climax, there have been a number of enjoyable moments so far.

It’s been great to witness North Korea’s resolute performance against Brazil, New Zealand’s unlikely draws, as well as Argentina and Spain’s general all round play. But so far there’s one thing that has been more enjoyable and intriguing than the rest of the tournament for me and it’s the implosion of the French.

I’m not a typical xenophobic Ingerlund fan who hates the French and the Germans ‘just because’ – I’m a big admirer of Germany’s approach to football – but to see France’s campaign collapse in farcical circumstances has been the best story of the World Cup so far. No matter when England do crash out, which could well be this Wednesday, surely they can’t disgrace themselves as much as our near neighbours?

And on to Wednesday; I’ll be watching England – Slovenia at Glastonbury festival at the Pyramid stage, hoping, rather than expecting, that Fabio’s team can produce a decent performance at the third attempt.

It appears that South Africa has put on a good tournament and fears about safety and security were wide of the mark. However, I notice there have been a number of protests from local people and workers unhappy about costs and wages, so perhaps there are wider issues to consider when deciding if it has been a success or not. Regardless of that, I hope Bafana Bafana go through to at least the knock-out stages as it’s good for the World Cup if the hosts are still involved.

FIFA also continues to embarrass itself with the whole debacle over hijack marketing, drawing attention to Bavaria beer when no-one would have been any of the wiser. And what the hell was Robbie Earle doing with all those complimentary tickets in the first place? Surely they would have been better in the hands of true Dutch and Danish supporters or local children?

I’m still not really paying any attention to brands’ attempts to associate themselves with the World Cup. I like what Carling and Nike have done but I’ve managed to avoid buying any of their products. The only advertising that has influenced me is the offers by online gambling sites.

I don’t know what's possible with the mapped out routes to the final but it’s hard to look beyond semi-finals involving the usual suspects. Brazil and Argentina both seem to be as skilful and clinical as you'd expect whilst the top European teams look to have what it takes too. But, as we’ve already seen with teams playing against Spain, Germany and Italy, it only takes one moment for an upset to occur.