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.

Thursday 26 June 2014

They finished 26th: ITALY

The fact that, like England, the Italians failed to make the knockouts will forever be overshadowed by the bite marks on Chellini's shoulder. Pirlo, still always called peerless by lazy commentators, couldn't pull enough strings to weave magic.  Ballotelli's deadly finishing wasn't enough. Beating England in the opener was a false dawn. Italy added to the European malaise, sent home early by successive defeats to Costa Rica and Uruguay. Like England, just not enough quality in depth.