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Joining the party

Pt I - Fantasy to reality as Lavvers heads to erm, sunny SA!

Last updated: 14th June 2010

Lavvers and Chris: while they were presentable!

When talking to people about the trip over the past few months they have raised concerns about the safety of the location, but I am really confident that everything will be fine. It's the World Cup so it's guaranteed to be brilliant!

Lavvers
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It's the morning after the USA game and I can't really add any more comment to what has already been said by everyone else, but as I watch Algeria and Slovenia I think there is no doubt that England will qualify from this group with it coming down to how many goals we can score against our two remaining group opponents.

The excitement of the tournament is now in full swing, but it took a bit longer for World Cup fever to hit me this time around than it had in previous tournaments, for reasons that I am not quite sure about; although I do think that Fabio has done a great job in making sure that as fans we don't peak too early in terms of support and excitement.

I think this has been down to the excellent dealings with the media and thought it was great to see him so passionate with the press photographers who tried to invade the privacy of the players last week.

The build-up in excitement to the tournament may have been slow, but it definitely kicked in once I'd been to visit my mate, who is at University in Southampton, to experience the lifestyle of a student. (I'm quite sure I wouldn't have ever survived it!) Whilst down there, I was shown self-made spreadsheets, charts and all sorts, predicting the squad before it had been released, and match predictions which, if they are to be believed, means it is going to be an England v Germany final.

Celebrating

Even though it may have been slightly weird, Frosty's over-excitement was infectious and I finally caught the bug, so it is great for the tournament to be underway. I'm also a fan of the various ways you can watch the matches. On the train yesterday it was great to be able to watch the Argentina game on my mobile and to have access wherever you are.

I watched England kick-off in the tournament in Covent Garden, London, where Chris Nutbeam aka 'Jump-out Man' was celebrating his birthday and showing off the new tan on his stomach at any given opportunity. It may not of been the ideal result, but that didn't stop us from celebrating into the night with some big shapes being thrown in the dance-off circle that formed between us and two random couples. I ensured that I got the photo you can see early on, as I don't think that many from after this time were useable for various reasons.

An important part of the tournament is the picking of the fantasy team and I'm confident that I've picked a team that can do a good job. I've joined the Soccer AM one on the Sky Sports website. Most of the teams seem to feature all the regular names... the Messi's, the Ronaldo's etc but I think it's going to be the fringe selections that are going to make the difference.

My selection is: Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Paulo Ferreira, Glen Johnson, Maicon, Wesley Sneijder, Andrea Pirlo, Franck Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Diego Milito. So if you think you can better that then sign up before it's too late.

Upgraded

I have the privilege of watching England's next match in South Africa and I cannot wait! Four of us, including Baby Elvis, are taking the 16-hour journey to Cape Town. Having been to a few of the qualifying matches, I love the pre-match national anthem and I know that when it kicks in it is going to be very special knowing the whole country is watching on and there will certainly be a few hairs standing up on the back of my neck. We have also been very lucky in having our tickets upgraded a category for reasons that I do not know or care about!

When talking to people about the trip over the past few months they have raised concerns about the safety of the location, but I am really confident that everything will be fine. It's the World Cup so it's guaranteed to be brilliant (results dependent)! We are taking a camera, so check out what we get up to on the website over the next couple of weeks.

Although from watching the World Cup Reports so far I'm not quite sure what clothing to pack, as the weather seems to be varying from day to day, but we won't have time to worry about the weather too much as we've got plenty to fit in, including a Fatboy Slim gig and a Safari. I'm off to pack my Vuvuzela!

See you in South Africa...

Lavvers