It's Time!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. Time to take a deep breath. Keep calm. Don't panic. I can do it. I know I can. The timings pretty good. Been waiting for this for a long time. I think I have worked it out properly. I should be able to see almost every match live on TV for the World Cup!

Well, what did you think I was talking about? It's only the most important month in four years! How long am I going to be happy? England winning matches? How long before I get frustrated? Useless referees being fooled by Johnny Foreigner diving all over the place. We are English old boy. We would never stoop to such a thing.

Ok ok - maybe we would nowadays. There has been a trend for our boys to start doing the same thing in recent times. But is that really the case? Those of us old enough to remember players such as Frannie Lee, Rodney Marsh etc will recall that they were doing it back in the early 70's. Why is that when foreigners do it against us, we look at them as cheating scum? When someone like Beckham or Cole or Gerrard do it, it suddenly becomes clever play - Why? What is the difference? Cheating is cheating. Unless you get away with it that is. That is the real point. It seems as though for years England has suffered at the hands of people pulling fast ones and we have fallen by the wayside at the quarter final or semi final stage yet again. Maradona's hand of God in 86 in Mexico. The Germans diving in 90 in Italy, The FA employing Graham Taylor in 94, The Simeone dive and attack on Beckham in 98 in France. It's time for England to get smart. And to stop moaning about how unlucky we are all the time. Get on with it and do as the Romans do.

All this brings about another moan. FIFA insist on having referees from all over the World. A very good idea - in theory. But in practise, it just doesn't work. You have got referees from some obscure outpost that have never officiated at a match with more than 4 goat herders and a dog watching. The look like rabbits caught in the headlights. They are way out of their depth and make mistakes galore. They miss blatants things such as Maradona punching a ball off his own goaline, punching a ball into the net at a different time. Who can forget the brutal attack on Patrick Battiston by Harald Schumacher in the Semi final of 82. The guy stopped breathing for a short period while he was on the pitch. The referee was a disgrace. Not only did he not give a foul, he didn't even speak to the Assailant! Battiston suffered a loss of teeth and broke some of the vertabrae in his neck. Schumacher stayed on the pitch somehow and eventually made the difference by saving a penalty and sending his team into the Final.

Ok - Rant over for now.

Good luck to all the teams in the World Cup. May the best team win THE biggest trophy in the beautiful game!

Come on England!!!!!!!!!!