The FIFA World Cup in Brazil starts on 12 June 2014 with the first match being between Brazil and Croatia. This year the competition has the host nation very much the favourites at 3-1 to win the competition. Of course, the true favourites to win should be the satellite companies who will be carrying television coverage around the world on their leased transponders, and, of course, the bookmakers laying the odds for punters to bet on. At least this year the ball design has been changed to a new “rougher surfaced one” this time around so the results might be a tad more predictable. The previous World Cup ball design had “aerodynamic issues” with its weight and smoothness causing unexpected flight trajectories. NASA scientists were even employed to examine what was going wrong.
This writer, being an Englishman (albeit with some suspected Celtic and French ancestors) will be supporting the England football team. In addition he will also a small wager on them at a good value 28-1. England, of course, last won (its only) World Cup in that glorious summer of 1966. Given that your correspondent was born exactly 9 months later – it must have been one heck of a World Cup post final celebratory party that year! 🙂
Toddy’s tip for an outsider for this year’s competition is Cameroon at 1000-1. Despite the fact that they have been drawn in the “Group of Death” with Brazil in the early group round they should get through as runners up. As it is, sooner or later an African team like Cameroon will win the World Cup. We will keep you informed about how both teams are progressing.
Update: Well England sadly departed thanks to two excellent goals by the talented Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, ably assisted by his Liverpool club team mate and England captain, Stephen Gerrard, who temporarily forgot that Suarez was on the other team. However, Suarez later bit off more than he could chew after he sunk his teeth into an Italian defender, as apparently he seems to do in too many football matches nowadays, and got barred from all football – including the World Cup – for four months. As for Cameroon, well they similarly disgraced themselves in their matches when a game of football threatened to break out amongst all their fighting and aggression, and they justly failed to get any further in the competition. As for your correspondent’s “lucky underpants” which he wore for his tipped teams’ good luck – well – like unsuccessful football managers everywhere, your correspondent gave them his full support (rather than the other way around) and then he duly fired them. 🙂
