Football is Played With a Spherical Ball

Following the World Cup from the other side of the world requires dedication and plenty of early starts (or late nights!). Kick-off is either at 1am, 4am or 7am. Luck had it that England and Holland played their group games a day after each other, at the same time, thus preventing any confusion for us!

I wonder who lives here!

England v Paraguay
This match was on at quite a good time, relatively speaking. A 1am start meant that we were able to watch the game without having to get up early in the morning. The plan was to go out around 10pm, meet up with friends for a few beers and to watch the game. However, it was slightly complicated by the fact that Chantal's employers were holding their 'Midwinter Christmas Dinner' the same evening (Yes I did say 'Mid-winter Christmas Dinner' - more about quirky New Zealand things in another article, some other time!). Therefore, our night started earlier than planned and meant we had to pace ourselves drink wise. That was a shame, as it meant we were not able to take full advantage of the free booze! Anyway, the disappointing dinner set the tone for the game so the less said about that the better! Uninspiring comes to mind, though.

England v Trinidad and Tobago
We had hoped to watch the 4am kick off at home, in the lounge. Unfortunately, the lounge was out of bounds that night due to overnighting visitors. We do not have SKY reception in our room (You don't think we would be paying for such a luxury, do you?) so we had to go to the pub (The Bard on Avon)! We got up at 3.45am, walked to the pub, ordered a pot of tea and the spectacle that is known as the English team kicked off. Well, that was about as exciting as it got! Pub prices for a bacon buttie were of London's kind, so we passedon that. During the second half, Pete had a pint of Guiness, which went down dangerously well! We walked back home after the match, had breakfast and then went off to work. The things one does for their country!

More tea vicar!

England v Sweden
As this was a 7am start, it meant we were able to arise at a civilised time and breakfast in front of the tv. During half-time, Pete walked down to the Bard to meet friends, watch the second half and have a cheeky pint of the black stuff. Once again it went down dangerously well! After the game, it was time to roll in to work. Late again but as there are other poms (and two argentinians) in the office nobody said a word.

The Dutch Games

These matches were mostly watched at home. The first match against Croatia was played at 1am, Monday morning. We both went to bed on Sunday night, arose at 12.45am and watched the match in the lounge with a cup of tea (no beer, please!). After the game, we went back to bed for a few hours before waking up quite tired at 7am to go to work!

The second match against Cote d'Ivoire was at 4am so again, we were up early. We sat in the lounge drinking cups of tea and watched an enjoyable first half and a very frustrating second half. At full-time, it was definitely Saturday morning, and as no reporting to the boss had to be done, we both retired back to bed, for a deserved sleep-in. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Unfortunately, the 3rd match against Argentina was not watched at home. We hoped the more modest 7am kick-off would mean a relaxed breakfast whilst watching the game. However, the weather had different ideas. The snowy, bad weather meant that there was not any SKY reception on the tv. That meant we were reduced to turning to the internet to find a site that would give a minute by minute up date of the game. During the second half, Chantal went to work and rather annoyingly discovered that the SKY reception in her canteen was perfect.

Who's Been Eating My Porridge?