I make no apologies for my real love of Germany and all things German! As I've said before, my great-grandfather was German, so if there was any way I could have the other seven-eighths German blood transfused, I'd leave tomorrow!
I won't comment on the England v USA match - it was predictable and what we've come to expect from them, even under the (I think) over hyped leadership of Signor Capello who, after all, is first and foremost an Italian!
It's too early to predict a winner, of course; Japan look good, especially when considering how small they are, whereas France and Italy weren't impressive.
Despite the injury to Michael Ballack, the German team look as impressive as ever and, even with Cahill's unwarranted straight red card for the Aussies, the German win was pretty convincing - and boss, Jurgen Low is a German.
But it wasn't really that which I wanted to comment on. Franz Beckenbauer, who 'knows a fair bit about football' hit the nail on the head when talking about the English team. It's simply down to the fact that English players aren't good enough, as most Premiership teams employ foreign players from all over the world, and who are simply better. Why, I wonder?
Finally, and just as an afterthought: all this business about the vuvuzela and the deafening noise they produce. If you hold the World Cup in a continent where this is the norm, and didn't find out about this sporting tradition beforehand, then you've got no one else to blame!
