I like living somewhere else other than England whilst the World Cup is on. OK, so Scotland might not seem a sensible choice, given their general lack of affection for all things south of the border, but at least I'm away from the endless talk about Wayne Rooney and Sven-Goran Eriksson and Peter Crouch's dancing. I'd like England to win the World Cup, but to blather on about it being "our turn" now that 40 years have elapsed since 1966, or to claim the current team is the best we've ever had, is tedious and ill-informed. The current England squad has some good players, but has yet to prove itself as a truly functional team, and there are plenty of other teams who look as, if not more, convincing. As such, I suspect good fortune will have a big part to play in deciding who wins the tournament. A freak deflection here, a dodgy refereeing decision there, an injury to an important player over there, all could change completely the outcome of a match. And if England don't win, it won't necessarily mean they're failures, just as winning won't make them the greatest team there's ever been. Though what'll happen up here if England do win, I dread to think.
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