World Cup Is Here!!!!!!

I am just glad that I won’t have to wait for too long for my dose of football like the past 4 years. 3 months of no football in the weekend, 3 months of not talking about last weekend matches, 3 months of not feeling happy or sad about a result…..3 months of getting to know the weekend again…3 months of agony..3 months of football starvation. But not this year….no no….in less then a month, every single football fans in the world will be focusing their attention to Germany……The World Cup is here…. WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After almost 2 years of grueling qualifying rounds, 32 teams from all over the world will be vying for that dream to be the World Cup champion. The usual suspects in world football like the current World Cup holders Brazil, Argentina, Italy, England, Holland and the host Germany alongside WC debutants like Togo, Ivory Coast, Angola, Trinidad & Tobago and Ukraine will be competing in this month long football extravaganza with billions of football fans around the world watching every game religiously and of course one of them would be yours truly. A month where every other sports will mean nothing at all, well, unless you are not a fan that is.

The great thing about the World Cup is…even non-football fans became fans, just like Sherie. Well, I don’t blame them. The euphoria that the World Cup brings can never be matched by any other sports in the world. The passion, the adrenaline, the suspense, the suspense, the elation and every single emotion that a football maniacs like me feel every single week during a football season will be shared by people like Sherie. For the record, Sherie supports Brazil and her favourite player is Ronaldinho for obvious reason (definitely not his looks)…he just amazes her with his brilliance on the pitch back in WC 2002 and he still does till now. At least she appreciates the beauty of football and not how good he looks in shorts. Well, she still does but at least she recognizes talent and skills lah.

Me, I am an England man but I do have a soft spot for Brazil because the men in my family are Brazil supporters. My first WC experience was Mexico 86 and I can still remember how devastated my late grandpa and dad when Brazil were knocked out by France in the penalty shoot out….although I was peeking from a slightly open door to catch the game on a double decker bed. I was 11 so staying up late for a game on a school night was not something my parents would have allowed me to do .

I am football crazy, or a football nerd as Sherie like to refer me as, and I think anyone who knows me would confess to that but the World Cup brings another level of craziness in me. It will be the single most important thing in my life for one month. For that one month, every football match is important...it doesn’t even matter if it is Costa Rica V Ecuador. It’s the World Cup and it only comes once in 4 years. It is not the same like any other football matches I’ve seen for the past 8 months (except United matches of course). This is the pinnacle of world football…to determine who the world champion is. It is a big deal and that will ALWAYS….ALWAYS be my argument. I hope my other half will understand, but somehow deep down inside I know she will (Ya Allah, semoga Kau bukakan dan lembutkan hati Sherie untuk memahami kegilaanku semasa Piala Dunia nanti, Amin!).

Maybe being an insomniac does have its advantage. I would have no problem staying up for the early morning kick off. I am so thankful, as others who are not blessed with owning ASTRO, I can still catch most of the game on the 6 free channels. The only task now is determining which game I will be watching if it is playing on the same time. Hmmm…. it is gonna be hard but someone have to do it. I mean, it would be waste of the government money if nobody watch the live coverage kan?

Well, as I would be analyzing each group and trying to predict which team will be going through to the next round just like the past WC, I might as well share it with anyone who cares to read it. Anyway, would Brazil stroll again to their 6th World Cup or would there be a team that will do a “Greece”? I hope it would help “football fan when it is the World Cup” to get to know the teams and players in the World Cup and the chances of the teams in Germany 2006 according to an unprofessional and uncertified football pundit like me. Maybe if I am accurate enough, someone from ESPN terstumble with my blog would be impress and offer me a job. Ahhh….that would be like a dream come true.

Next posting….. we will be analyzing Group A with the host nation Germany will be up against Poland, Costa Rica and Ecuador.