For fans of the greatest sport on Earth, the World Cup is the greatest SHOW on Earth.
I'll be watching almost every match of the tournament, even though every match kicks off fairly late at night UK time (tonight's opener between Brazil and Croatia in Sao Paulo kicks off at 9pm UK time and England's opening match against Italy on Saturday in the Arena da Amazonia in Manaus in the Amazon jungle kicks of at 11pm UK time). I'm sure that slightly less sleep over the next month or so won't do much damage.
And the fact that the World Cup is going to be hosted by Brazil - the spiritual home of football - for the first time since 1950 means this is going to be one extra-special tournament. The World Cup being hosted by this huge, football-crazy country will be something special. Around 60% of all the 3 million tickets sold have been bought by Brazilians and they'll make every match feel like the Rio carnival.
This will be the first-ever World Cup in which goal-line technology will be used to determine whether or not the ball has gone over the goal line, so there'll be no repeat of that debacle between England and Germany in their Round of 16 match in the 2010 World Cup when Frank Lampard's perfectly good goal was ruled out by the referee who judged it to have not crossed the line. Fifa could have used Britain's Hawk-Eye technology, which has been used for a few years in tennis and cricket and was first used in English football last season. They instead opted for Germany's GoalControl-4D technology. GoalControl-4D uses 14 high-speed cameras located around the pitch and directed at both goals and was selected by world football's governing body ahead of three other Fifa-licensed technology providers, including Hawk-Eye. But, like Hawk-Eye, the system will tell the referee whether or not the ball crossed the line in those instances where it is hard to tell by sending a message to a device he will wear around his wrist.
GoalControl-4D: 2014 FIFA World Cup Goal Control Setup Video - YouTube
Also, this World Cup will allow all the players to take three minute drinks breaks when temperatures during matches reach certain levels.
The Final will be held in the world famous Maracana - built especially to host matches in the 1950 World Cup - on July 13th. In 1963 almost 200,000 fans packed into that then-mighty stadium to watch Flamengo play Fluminense! It has just been partially rebuilt and now has a much smaller capacity of 78,000. Its first match since it was re-opened was a 2-2 draw between England and Brazil in a friendly match on June 2nd 2013.
The Adidas Brazuca (shown below) is the official match ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is made by the company Adidas, a FIFA Partner and FIFA World Cup Official Match Ball supplier since 1970. This is the first FIFA World Cup ball named by fans. The ball is Contract manufactured in Sialkot, Pakistan.
The name of the ball was revealed on Sunday 2nd September 2012. It was selected by a public vote organised by the Local Organising Committee and Adidas, with over one million Brazilian football fans voting. The name Brazuca was chosen with 77.8% of the vote. Two other voting options were given: Bossa Nova (14.6% of the vote) and Carnavalesca (7.6% of the vote).
The colours and ribbon design of the six panels which make up the ball symbolise the traditional multi-coloured wish bracelets (fita do Senhor do Bonfirm da Bahia) worn in the country, in addition to reflecting the vibrancy and fun associated with football in Brazil. According to FIFA, "the informal term 'brazuca' is used by Brazilians to describe national pride in the Brazilian way of life", and "mirroring their approach to football, it symbolises emotion, pride and goodwill to all". The term is also used as slang for "Brazilian" and became well-known abroad due to the Brazilian diaspora, but can also be a pejorative name used to mean "third class" citizen from Brazil.
Forward Sports was given the contract by Adidas at short notice, after the main manufacturer in China failed to meet the demand. The adidas brazuca weighs 437 grams and has a circumference of 69 cm. Forward Sports has been associated with Adidas since 1995, and has supplied footballs for many top football tournaments, including the Champions League and the German Bundesliga. The Brazuca has been tested by over 600 footballers, and 30 teams from ten countries over a period of two and a half years. Some players involved in the testing include Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Zinedine Zidane.
The ball is a developmental successor to the Adidas Tango 12 series of balls, with the same bladder and carcass but a different surface structure.
The Evolution of the FIFA World Cup Official Match Ball: http://mashable.com/2014/06/11/adidas-world-cup-soccer-ball-evolution/
World Cup fever grips England
12 June 2014
BBC News
Landlord Norman Scott said the decorations had received a "really good response"
Landlord Norman Scott has covered the Robin Hood pub in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, with more than 200 flags and admits he got "a bit carried away".
There have been traffic jams twice a day as people stop to take photos.
But he now has his fingers crossed England will at least make it out of the group - not least because otherwise the red and white flags will be coming down.
"It is England, it is the World Cup and I think you should get behind your team," he said.
"It's taken about four to five weeks to decorate. I've done all the roof with all the 32 flags of the nations. I've even painted the lampshades
"I've got to be hopeful - I think we'll get out the group and we've got a chance in the next round. But then we bump into Spain and Brazil and that's when, for me, the World Cup starts."
He said the flags of nations knocked out of the competition would be taken down from his pub.
"I just hope the England flag is the last one standing," he added.
The Robin Hood pub in Jarrow has been covered with more than 200 flags
'Proper support'
Anthony Baddams has turned his home into a sea of red and white
Anthony Baddams, of Northbrook Road, Southampton,spent about three weeks putting up a display which features some 300 flags, England shirts, hats and other memorabilia.
He said he had received a "positive response" from his community, including people from Australia, Poland, the US and even his German next-door neighbour.
"A lot of people stop and take photos," he said. "They say 'it looks brilliant, keep it up'. People from all cultures have had their pictures taken and said they liked it."
Mr Baddams, 46, has put up similar displays during World Cups since the 1980s, but he said this was his largest effort yet.
"I'm a proper proud England fan and I always go OTT with the displays because I never see anyone else doing it anymore.
"You see the odd flag but it's not proper support. I'm flying the flags to show real support to our boys."
'Plastered the house'
Paul Longley said there are a number of other houses now following suit near-by
Paul Longley, 49, describes himself as "very passionate about football".
But the tradition of decorating his house in Manor Farm, Bristol, actually started during the rugby world cup.
"I plastered the house with flags and that and it has just carried on every year, with the rugby, cricket, the Olympics, the Euros... all the big tournaments," he said.
"I started in January, which I'm a bit embarrassed about, but we've just been putting them up and up and up, every weekend, or every couple of weekends, not loads at a time, but building it up, making it colourful and so on."
For Mr Longley, the World Cup is a family affair, with his wife and young grandsons all keen football fans.
"The wife enjoys it, loves it as well, she is a football fan. We watch it all the time, so she doesn't mind [the flags]," he said.
"All our neighbours love it, people stop and take pictures, we're just really excited. It's only a couple of days now until it kicks off and we're really looking forward to it.
Mr Longley's love of the World Cup has even spread to his wheelie bin, which he has covered with spare football stickers.
Paul Longley has almost 200 "spare" football stickers covering his wheelie bin
'Can't see out'
Kay and Paul Skutela first started decorating their house for the 2006 World Cup
Kay Skutela's home in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, is covered with St George flags and - although at the moment they do not quite cover her windows - she said she "wouldn't mind at all if I couldn't see out".
Her husband Paul first decorated the house for the 2006 World Cup and at each subsequent competition he has added more flags.
"Paul does it every four years to support England," Mrs Skutela said.
"They are on the car and the van as well for when he is doing deliveries."
Mrs Skutela said they planned to leave the flags on their house, even if England are knocked out of the competition.
BBC News - World Cup 2014: Some England fans 'a bit carried away'
