All eyes on Soccer City

The stadiums have been built, the tickets sold and the squads picked, now the big game action can commence.

Opening games

On Friday all eyes will be on Soccer City Johannesburg for the first taste of World Cup action in South Africa, for what will surely be an exhilarating, exciting and much anticipated game…oh no wait, it’s Mexico v South Africa. No disrespect to those teams, but it’s not the glamour first game you would normally expect. However it is competitive football and that’s what the average footie fan has been craving since the domestic season finished last month.

A much more exciting prospect is the Friday evening game between Uruguay and France. I will certainly be watching and I have no shame in openly supporting the South Americans in that encounter after France handballed their way to the finals. Uruguay have a very capable team including the likes of Diego Forlan fresh from breaking Fulham hearts in the Europa League final. You can definitely brace yourself for a minor shock in that one, France have only won once in the group stages of the last two World Cups, and that was against African minnows Togo.

England

The build up for England’s game on Saturday has not been without talking points – pointless friendlies, Rio’s knee, the Lampard/Gerrard combo and Emile Heskey have all got fans talking, disagreeing and speculating. The country will be at a standstill at 7.30pm on Saturday hoping that we can get our campaign off to a flying start. It’s vital not to loose to the Americans, it is likely to be important to win our group, so that we avoid the Germans in the second round – assuming they see off Serbia, Australia and Ghana.

The big question is are we ready, does Postman Pat (Capello) know who his best team is, will Barry be fit, who will play in goal, have we practised penalties, can Lampard and Gerrard play together, Emile Heskey…WHY, will we cope with the altitude and will the ball cause havoc.

And the answers: Have faith in Capello – he will have prepared the players properly and he knows who the best TEAM is (not individuals). Barry would not be in the squad if he wasn’t nearly fit, Rob Green has been preferred in all the warm up games – he will start. Lampard and Gerrard can play together if they are told how to play together by Fabio, one just won’t be able to play their ‘natural’ game and hold, but they are top footballers surely they can manage that! Emile Heskey can ‘create’ space for Rooney, Gerrard et al, I’m not convinced, I hope Crouchy plays. The ball and altitude will be the same for all teams I say stop complaining and start playing.

The waiting is nearly over and a month long feast of football will begin on Friday. It will throw up heroes, villains and talking points aplenty, brace yourself it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride!

Enjoy!

Rich