An insight into my World Cup experience

My first WC football blog, and im not really sure where to start...

To be honest I've always considered myself more of a rugby fan. Other than playing a few games, watching the Premiership finals and the World Cup etc I know relatively little about the politics of the game.

When I do watch football it is in a social environment, with friends or colleauges (and only if it is a good game)! Im not interested in Grimsby Town Vs Carlisle United, I want to see two world class evenly matched teams go head to head with lots happening (shots, tackles, fouls etc) and good refereeing (not too strick with the tough tacklers but is stern with divers).

I dont really have a favourite team, I guess I support my local club. While living in Edinburgh it was Hibs (with the other attraction that they are "Irish") but now that im in London my "local" team would be Chelsea (they are also my flatmates team)! On an international platform Ireland would be of course my chosen team but... if I had to pick another team (some might say a better team) it would be Argentina! This again comes from an intrinsic feeling of loyalty, maybe because my partner is half Argentinian.

I have never attended the football World Cup but I imagine it is a place with a varied atmosphere. Being there in the crowd, supporting your team with 10's of 1000's of others and feeling the comradery between everyone would be a great experience! The problem for me is the football hooligans and the crime associated with the game. Football is one of the only sports in Europe where the fans "passion" leads people to riot and attack others. For me this is something I can live without and would happily watch from home.

For this World Cup we have gotten Sky HD+ installed and might even check out some of the 3D pubs broadcasting the semi's and the final. Myself, the flatmate and possibly some of my colleagues will definetly be hitting the pub to watch some of the games but with the Sky+ feature I can watch them whenever I want.

Because of the hours im currently working it wont be possible to watch all the games live from the comfort of my home or in the pub. To make sure I dont miss the likes of Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentinia and Italy playing I will track the games via apps on my Iphone and via the BBC website. I also have the Sky Player which can be used to view most of the games online (if I wanted to have a cheeky look at work or on my break).

I have also noticed a lot of brand activity around the World Cup with everyone from the local news agent to super brands such as Mars & Kit Kat trying to get in on the action. Kit Kat have been everywhere and to those not paying full attention, would appear to be the official English sponsor. Mars on the otherhand have changed their products packaging and a few of their creatives but havent exploited their position as the official English team sponsor. I have also noticed that Coca Cola, Budweiser and McDonalds have all been accepted as official World Cup sponsors. All three of these products damage your health and/or cause social problems on a massive scale e.g. diabetes, obesity and alcoholism and I dont believe are appropriate sponsors for such an event....