i seem to be devoting quite a bit of time here to the world cup. funny, i still can’t really watch club football that much, but the world cup is something a little bit different, especially when your country’s in it. i don’t like this idea that they’ve supposedly had about having a world cup ’style’ of competition every two years. i think four is about right.

at least one of my teams is through to the round of 16, with sweden coming out with a draw against the poms last night. mexico plays this afternoon, but after drawing with angola have left themselves in a bit of a sticky spot, needing a draw or a win against portugal to guarantee qualification. portugal haven’t been looking exactly immense, but they’ve looked a bit more solid than mexico so far. if mexico lose this afternoon, they’re going to have to hope that iran can put one past angola. another match that could go either way, but again angola have looked a little better than iran so far.

then on thursday it’s the big one (another big one). australia plays croatia for a place in the last 16. there’s been so much written about the croatian links between the two teams, it’s finding it way into every article, even if that’s the not the main thrust of the piece. i’m sick of hearing about it. i can only imagine how sick the australian players are of answering questions about where their loyalties lie.

why in the hell would they consider leaning slightly towards croatia, as people have supposedly been suggesting some of them will? obviously i’ve never been involved in a competition on this level, but i have played plenty of competitive sports in my time, and let me tell you, you don’t take it easy on your friends. you want to beat your friends more than anyone else. you want bragging rights. i can’t imagine it’s too different in other cultures, or for those with other cultural heritage.

i’m going into thursday fully expecting to have suffered at least two heartattacks before the end of the match, but i’m predicting a win, albeit a narrow one, for australia. i’m trying like hell to be objective. it’s hard, but somewhere deep beneath the jingoism, i honestly think we’re going to get there.