FIFA World Cup 2014

Is that Geoff Hurst or Roger Hunt ? btw Terry Paine was a great player for Southampton FC and is the club's Honorary President.

Geoff Hunt - who is he? Roger Hunt's brother? Something wrong there I think 

Terry Paine played for Southampton 

SORRY......My fault it is Hurst and NOT Hunt,had over a bottle of wine inside be when i posted yesterday !!

Mista H

Mista H - so rather than being wrong - I was in fact right 

One for George ……..

Isn't the correct caption American football v [proper] football?

Aren't they Twenty20 cheerleaders? Sorry if not.

Has the World Cup thread turned into a Page 3 thread?

Lovely knockers darlin! 

Jason.

Certainly not   - just articulating the exhuberence of fervent support.

Would you prefer a picture of - for example - Beckham in his pants? If so it's easily provided.

Steven Hawking has worked it all out England play in red, blonds take the pens (top corners) and we play 4-3-3. 

Handy mobile phone holder.

Well spotted ewemon.

Mista H

Is Paddington Bear cheering for England or Peru tonight?

 - England by now I'd expect

Are they real,or did someone lend her a bike pump ?

Is that what those valves on the end are for?

Have to say Rooney was sporting a fine crop of hair on his bonce tonight. must be keeping it in some sort of gro-bag overnite.

Mista h

June 12 is getting closer

Englnad v Italy is in 2 weeks time at 11.00pm - A winning start? 2-1 to England? 

Most teams are rather cautious in the opening groups games, seemingly more concerned not to lose than win. The Italian style of football is of course very cautious so I think this might be to England's advantage.  I'd rather play Italy in the opening game than later in the group when the Italians need a win.  A draw would probably suit both teams and that's what I would put my money on.  

Are our pubs showing any games ?

I`m not up to speed on this,but with these very late Kick Offs(11pm UK time) are our pubs missing out on a months very busy trading,or have they been granted extended opening hours ???

Mista H

So would draws against Italy and Uruguay - with a win against Costa Rica be enough for qualification to the knock out stage?  

Northern Ireland lost narrowly to Uruguay in a warm up game 

Yes - I'm watching the Costa Rica game in a bar in Southampton - although pre-booking is necessary 

Wetherspoons are going to town I believe - despite their original no football stance 

Mista H, pubs and bars were given a blanket extended licence earlier this to show late games during the tournament,which means that they don't have to apply

I wrote an article recently for someone on the economic impact of the World Cup - If England get past the first round, it should benefit the UK economy to the tune of £1bn to £1.2bn, the biggest beneficiaries being pubs and bars, food and drink retail, takeaway/home delivery food joints, brewers and manufacturers of ready meals.

The overall impact may not be as big as it was in 2006 and 2010, because back then loads of people were replacing their CRTVs with flatscreens; this time around, these types of televisions have gained near ubiquity and sales are slow.

But if England get to the quarter-finals or beyond, it will be an enormous boost to the economy; in fact, even if England get knocked out early, but the football from the remaining teams is entertaining, there is still likely to be a benefit, albeit a smaller one.

Agreed MDS.If I were not Italian,I would prefer to play Italian team at the beginning.Our story says this: players are not so diligence in the first matches.They usually start playing more seriously when they need a win:in or out.Of course we need a good generation of players,not the like the dead one we had in South African WC.I think now we have some interesting young players helped by the senior ones.Not lucky with a very good mid field player Montolivo.He had his shinbone broken the other day vs Ireland.I actually was not happy when the Italian staff decided to play this friend match against Ireland.British team always fight hard even if it's not a very important match.I would have preferred say Portugal?Or something like.