By William Mata

Any football fan of my age will remember going into a very boisterous school hall at 7am to watch England play Nigeria and, later, Brazil in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

The prospect of watching prime Ronaldo or Kanu take on David Beckham and co. made the very early bike ride worthwhile. On reflection, I really pity the poor teachers who had to try and motivate my group of year 5s, who had just witnessed Ronaldinho lobbing David Seaman to send us home.

Would I make the same effort next year to watch England play a first round dead rubber against Uzbekistan, Jordan, or Cape Verde (all qualifiers) - in an expanded 48 team tournament?

Yes, probably, to be honest. Any football fan is also a sucker for punishment.

But you hopefully get the point. After sitting through some dire matches, where the Three Lions........

© LBC