And so it begins……..

The football World Cup is upon us. The men’s World Cup in fact. There seems to be a need to emphasise the ‘men’s element’ in the same way as emphasising the women’s T20 cricket World Cup. I’m not sure it’s entirely necessary as if you are a fan of either you’d surely know which gender is playing? And if it’s a casual watcher who has just happened to tune in then surely the aim is to encourage viewers regardless?

Anyway I tuned in to the Mexican portion of the opening ceremony. Thankfully brief and did exactly what I’d want from a football World Cup opening ceremony. All the flags, an Italian tenor and a lady I didn’t know warbling for all it’s worth. I’d missed the American half of the opening ceremony, I’d been playing golf in 46 degree heat which I thought would be a less painful way to spend my time than watching anything the Americans could offer. My suspicion was that they would try to outdo the Diana Ross penalty in 1994, a moment that is unsurpassable in itself, and thought I’d leave it. A bit like rehashes of Open All Hours and Dad’s Army, the first version surely can’t be beaten.

ITV had coverage of Mexico versus South Africa. There has been a lot of commentary on the studios themselves, with the BBC opting to stay in Salford with an AI generated background and ITV heading for New York and set up with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. I get the argument about the BBC being public funded, but I personally like the presenting team being immersed locally. Nothing says immersed like Clare Balding in a snood shivering in Innsbruck or somewhere.

The ITV studio, whilst I’ve said how much I love the backdrop, does have the air of ‘Saturday Kitchen’, so much that I half expected Roy Keane to wander across the studio and rustle up an omelette. And I do enjoy the dynamic of Keane, Neville and Wright. So the upper hand for ITV so far….

This World Cup will have 104 matches. The Mexico vs South Africa game had 3 red cards and a couple of goals, but the rest of the game I found a bit dull. The lack of jeopardy in the early group games has always led to turgid affairs as teams try to spar their way through the early stages. I fear for Curacao, Cape Verde, Qatar and Jordan and wonder whether the tournament would benefit from those teams having a group of their own to feed into the round of 32 or whatever else comes next?  They would have genuine incentive, opportunity and expectation of getting into the knock outs. As part of the rationale of increasing the number of teams in the tournament is to spread the game to all parts of the world (a worthy campaign I think), giving the viewers in those countries the excitement of the prospect of winning a game or two would add more value I think. We could extend the invite to Scotland as well.

The ball for the World Cup is a well patterned and multi coloured effort. I’m not a fan. I think there’s a case for saying they’ve run out of decent patterns and it’s gone full circle (or spherical) and perhaps they should bring back a nice black and white hexagon number. Retro if you like. This years ball looks like a beach ball, similar to the ones you’d pay a quid for at a petrol station on the way to the seaside. A ‘floater’ as my wife would say. I’ll add she collared that phrase long before devotees of toilet jokes adopted it.

The downside of ITV is of course the adverts. I realise they need to fund Roy Keane’s omelette making, but all the adverts were so football based (normally featuring footballers themselves) that in the end I was yearning to see an advert for a funeral home or Martin Kemp offering life insurance and a pen.

As the game was dull, my attention was drawn to the fans. Foreign cameramen obviously haven’t had the memo and aren’t particularly diverse in their shots, featuring mainly any young women they can. But it became apparent that at any significant moment in the game, all the fans were filming the proceedings themselves on their phones. I find that sad. Some of the best memories I have from watching sport are committed to my memory. Not on the Cloud or a SIM card. Archie Gemmill’s free kick for Derby versus Forest in 1984 or Frankie Griffith’s final over in the 1993 B+H cup final wouldn’t appear so memorable with my phone in front of my face, as opposed to grabbing the arm of the person next to me and holding my breath.

The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City is a fantastic theatre of a stadium. It has hardly changed since the 1970 World Cup, when Pele graced the turf, or 1986 when Maradona was as in his pomp. Who knows whether either of today’s protagonists for the ‘world great’ crown (albeit less so in recent years) Ronaldo and Messi will add to the list of memorable moments. This game didn’t have any. The normal process of the referee feeling the need to hold up every set piece to speak to the players seems so unnecessary. Say it once, maybe even brief teams before the game, but footballers can’t be that thick they need telling every single time. I did notice that FIFA (amongst a raft of other rule changes) have said that referees can somehow sanction grappling before the ball is kicked. I’ve beaten this drum for years. Simply change the laws to allow referees to penalise grappling and holding before the whistle goes. And they will stop players putting their hands across their mouths when talking to each other. Fine if we’re to tackle racism and abuse, not much use if the players have been eating garlic.

Interest in the game rose when VAR (who probably couldn’t help themselves) felt the need to interfere from their bunker of doom. Apparently a slap to the face by a South African on a Mexican was deemed an act of ‘serious violence’. They’ve obviously not been amongst Mexican cartel members. Absolute tosh of course. A yellow card maybe but the ‘head cam’ being sported by the referees in this tournament (I assume to enhance the viewing experience) only seemed to support the fact that the referee hadn’t made an ‘obvious error’. Stick to goal line technology in my opinion. I’ll save further VAR rants for later in the tournament, a bit like saving the best part of your packed lunch (invariably the chocolate bar) until last.

The game ended 2-0 to Mexico. South Africa avoided being drubbed which at least means they’ve still got some interest, and the co-hosts are up and running which always helps. The timings of the matches will of course be a problem. Where I am in the world means I’ll catch about the first hour of the 8pm (BST) games, but several will be in the middle of the night. I have the dilemma of whether to stay up to witness Haiti vs Scotland, 4am kick off here, or risk missing Iran and Peru levels of disaster for the Tartan Army. I recall helping with night feeds with my daughter as a baby, volunteering for the 3am gig, and becoming a devotee of Major League Baseball and Tenable. I’m not advocating having a child purely for the convenience of aligning nourishing the infant with World Cup viewing, but anyone who planned ahead around September last year has my admiration.