Office sweepstakes are being compiled, wallcharts mounted and the nation readies itself for the start of another World cup.

However this one seems to be more in the public eye than any other World cup, more and more non football fans seem to be interested and to be quite frank its everywhere.

Just about every TV advert features a current England Player and if not a past player or manager or any celebrity who is vaguely connected with the game, compare this media frenzy with Euro 96 where just about the only football advert at the time featured Gareth Southgate in Pizza Hut with a bag on his head.

Euro 96 although not a world cup probably kick started the obsession,although some would cite Italia 90, of course that World cup did see the start of a boom period, however it was a little too early as the internet wasnt in public use,Euro 96 built on that so that by 2000, communications had so come on in technology that the football tournaments we now know and love/loathe are now no longer the preserve of the football fan but everyone.

Hence we will se pubs full of drunken girls with their face painted in the cross of St George who couldnt tell you who is in the premier league but will scream abuse at the screen in the name of England.

This is of course fueled by a Danish beer company who claim to be the drink of England fans, although in fairness it is probably brewed here to a different recipe than Denmark

Where will the madness stop, certainly not at your front door as decorating your house in the most garish collection of lights and flags on a comparison with the Xmas period is now de rigeur

So for the next few weeks if things go to historical plan we will see the England team falter, the media crucify certain players and the manager for various treasonable crimes and then the team rally to take us to the cusp of actually believeing we can win it, only for some catastrophe to befall us, a harsh sending off, a disallowed goal or a broken finger nail, cue mass disorder in high streets up and down the countre, the daily Mail's usual outcry for pub licensing hours to be reduced to 2 hours on a Monday morning and its all over for another four years.

So who will win the World Cup, the answer is there will be thousands of winners, all of them multi national corporations who have profited from the tournament    

Photo: Action Images

mangobean added 23:03 - Jun 12 What exactly is the point of this article??? There's almost enough smelling pistakes (deliberate) and grammatical errors to warrant a job at The Echo!
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