Let's get the party started

The World Cup is finally here and I have to say it hasn't come a moment too soon.

Like all other football fans I have been looking forward to Friday with mouth-watering anticipation but, frankly, after four years of football foreplay, I am now ready for some proper action.

The build-up is fun and it does serve to heighten expectations and get the juices flowing. But, like with all things you are eagerly looking forward to, there comes a point when you just want it to happen.

And I am sure I speak for billions of fans around the world and thousands of them in Malta when I say that that point has now been reached.

No more hype, let's have some football.

But if you think it is bad for us, imagine how it feels for the players. Right now, there are 736 of them sitting around in South Africa, desperate for things to get underway.

Each one of them knows they are carrying the hopes, dreams and aspirations of their respective country on their shoulders and they must be itching to get started. Well, everyone apart from Emile Heskey, who must be sitting in his hotel room wondering just how he managed to play six minutes of football this season but still make the final England squad.

The question is, obviously, out of the 32 teams that have turned up for the first World Cup on African soil, who will walk away with the ultimate prize on July 11?

Well I wish I could say it is going to be someone new and unexpected, a minor team that will shock the world and claim football's biggest prize. But we all know that just isn't going to happen.

I'm afraid the reality is we are going to see the crown taken by one of the usual suspects, and by that I mean Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Germany, England, Holland or France.

A few other teams are possibly in with an outside chance, like Portugal, one or two African nations, and maybe even Denmark at a push. But I think in our heart of hearts we know the next world champions will be one of the aforementioned eight.

European Champions Spain are most people's favourites, and it is hard to bet against them. Two years ago in Switzerland they looked formidable and their team has only got better with age - in fact, the current crop may not even peak until the next World Cup.

Then there's Brazil. They haven't been ripping up any trees over the past few years but you write them off at your peril. Same with Germany. They don't have the stars of yesteryear but their efficient and pragmatic approach to football always ensures they are there or thereabouts come the semi-finals.

Holland, on the other hand, have plenty of stars but never seem to get it together when it really matters. Traditionally speaking, by the end of the first week their team are either not talking to each other or openly fighting on the training pitch.

Argentina too, have quality in their ranks, but frankly, with Maradona at the helm they are just as likely to get eliminated in the group stage as win the cup. The fact that he has promised to run naked around Buenos Aires if they do lift the trophy shows he doesn't have too much confidence himself. And his promise should serve as a decent incentive for his players not to try particularly hard.

Next up are France, the panto villains of South Africa 2010. They certainly have the players and the ability, but thanks to Thierry Henry's handball which secured their qualification, few people outside France want to see them succeed. And that could play on their mental state.

Which brings me to my final two contenders - Malta's favourites England and Italy.

The latter are, of course, defending champions, and nobody needs to remind me or any other local England fan that they are more than capable of raising their game when it really matters.

But I don't think too many Italy fans will take offence when I say that expectations are not as high this time as they have been in the past. I'm not suggesting for one second they should be excluded from the final reckoning, just that they are not as strong as they have been in previous tournaments.

That leaves England. What can I say about them that hasn't been said before? That this is their best chance for half a century? No, we've said that before. Maybe that some players know this is their last opportunity to fulfil their potential? No, we say that every two years.

The reality is, though, that both those things are as true now as they were four years ago, and four years before that. England, on paper, do have the team to win the World Cup. In John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steve Gerrard and Wayne Rooney they have world-class players, some of whom know this is their last crack at the big one.

And in Fabio Capello they have a manager who is more than capable of adding a world title to his already stunning CV. A combination of Italian calm, tactical intelligence and English energy and enthusiasm may just be what is needed to end the 44 years of hurt.

But like all England fans who were born after 1966, I have seen so many of these false dawns come and go. There have been too many occasions when hopes have been raised only to be cruelly dashed. Normally on penalties.

And that's why I will be putting my money on Spain. My heart says England but my head says it is Fernando Torres and his pals who will be getting all touchy-feely with World Cup trophy in a month's time.

So long Rafa

It seems strange, I know, but I actually think I am going to miss Rafa Benitez now he has gone.

Although his departure from Anfield was pretty inevitable given last season's poor performance, it's hard not to feel a slight tinge of sympathy for the Spaniard.

He had a cracking start at the club and I don't think anybody will ever forget the way he guided Liverpool to Champions League victory over AC Milan.

But from the moment the new owners took over, he was fighting a losing battle - one he made sure he lost by making some very poor signings.

Liverpool's problem now is that finding a quality replacement is not going to be easy while dumb and dumber remain in control. The big names will not want to be part of the American duo's bumbling approach to club ownership.

That's why they will probably have to go for someone like Roy Hodgson, a manager who definitely deserves the chance of managing a big club but who isn't already at one. And who, crucially, won't cost a fortune to hire or demand a fortune to spend on players.

Whether he will actually want to leave the comfort zone of Fulham for the pressure cauldron of Anfield is another question.

But if he can be persuaded, I get the sneaky feeling he might just be the right man for a difficult job.

A load of balls

Another World Cup, another deluge of complaints from players about the tournament ball.

Every four years it's the same old story. One manufacturer or another is tasked with designing a new ball. They spend millions doing just that, and then we spend the fortnight preceding the tournament listening to players saying how bad it is.

And most of the complaints come, as you would expect, from goalkeepers. The stoppers from Brazil, Italy, Spain and Australia have all said they don't like the new offering, while England's David James has described it as "dreadful".

This year's ball is made by Adidas and goes under the rather fanciful name of Jabulani. It is, apparently, the first ever perfectly spherical football, which makes you wonder what we have been playing with in the past.

But James thinks its high-tech design and lack of weight will lead to errors as players misjudge its hard-to-predict trajectory. And, while he may have a point, it's hard to take him too seriously on the basis that he would probably manage to fumble the new ball if it had been the size of a Land Rover.

I think it is all a lot of fuss over nothing, and the players should just shut up and get on with it. They have had plenty of time to practice with the Adidas creation that has been in testing by players since January.

However, I do think this controversy raises an interesting question: do we really need to change the ball for every tournament?

I'm sure Fifa would argue that it is to make sure they are using a ball which employs the latest technology. But if they were so worried about being up-to-date on new developments, surely they would be introducing video replays wouldn't they?

Provided the ball is spherical, bounces and doesn't weigh a tonne, I can't see much that can be done to improve on it every few years. Certainly not enough to justify annoying the very people who are going to be kicking it about for their country.

It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that introducing a new ball for every tournament means millions of kids will buy replicas to ensure they are more like their heroes could it?

Damn the cynic in me.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com