Brazil, you say? They know how to play football over there, don't they? But it's a long way for one so middle aged as I to travel.

So instead, I shall slouch into my leather armchair and view the tournament from this side of the Atlantic. I shall try and watch every game and will definitely make wildly inaccurate predictions too.

I do solemnly vow to give you a real sense of what it's like to not be at the World Cup. This is the blog where all the colour and atmosphere and passion of watching the world's greatest sporting tournament on a wall mounted widescreen really comes to life.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Who Will Qualify From World Cup Group E?

Someone once sung, a little naughtily, that E's are good. He must have foreseen the draw for the 2014 World Cup Group E. Because it's the sort of group you'd want your nation to be drawn in.
The sort of group you'd take home and introduce to your parents. You wouldn't have to worry about them putting their feet on your father's best chair, or swearing within shot of your mother's tender ears. They'd say please and thank you, politely decline your father's offer of a beer and select mineral water.
What I'm saying here is that Group E has the potential to be a bit dull. You'll tire of it before the Group's decided, unless your nation's in it. And if any one of these sides makes it to the quarter finals, I'll stone a crow (I won't really, Mr RSPB man. I like crows).

FRANCE will probably cruise this group, although they've been generally rubbish in World Cups since they won it in 1998. In-fighting, tantrums are the cliches associated with Les Bleus, but if they can keep it together, they'll romp this.
ECUADOR qualified from their group the last time they were in the tournament (England's group in 2006) and I think they'll repeat that. I'm backing the south Americans big time in this tournament, just like I did the Africans last time, and we all know what happened to them.
HONDURAS are playing in their second straight finals, and will almost certainly go 3 and out and straight home unless they know something I don't.
And I don't like the look of SWITZERLAND this time around, yet they always seem to perform in the finals, so I may lift them into third in this group. In fact, I will. Look. Done it.

GROUP E PREDICTIONS: 1: FRANCE  2: ECUADOR  3: Switzerland  4: Honduras