(John looks forward to the Summer and review's last month's World Cup draw. I'll be there but the draw provided me with some pretty obscure games to watch (Togo v Korea for one) which I'm sure will add to the colour of the occasion - Howard)
Last month's world cup draw was quite a strange experience-something eagerly-anticipated by those of us who follow the national team and love the international game, but the whole thing turned out to be lacking somehow.
Firstly, the legendary German efficiency was oddly absent with the show starting late, necessitating the BBC pundits having to waffle for 5-or-so minutes without saying anything of note. Then we had the strange draw with the politically correct player from every competing federation to assist with the draw. Now I'm all in favour of the likes of the legendary Pele, Roger Milla and Lothar Matthäus assisting with the thing, but using such as an ex-Coventry City reserve (Cobi Jones) and the obscure French international Christian Karembeu (as the only player anyone's heard of born in Oceania) is taking things a little far. The PC bit was then turned on its head by the use of the token attractive young lady as a side-kick (in this case, the decorative Heidi Klum) and the whole thing then had the feel of a naff game show rather than the prelude to the real greatest show on earth.
The result of the draw threw up some interesting stuff and from a travel and opposition perspective, England could be satisfied with their lot. From a fans perspective, however, the outcome was very disappointing in that we were drawn in some of the smaller grounds, meaning the ticket allocation will be only around 1800 to 2100 for the 3 group games against a demand of probably over 10 times that number. Despite the efforts of the FA to secure additional tickets, this is unlikely to be successful and thousands of England supporters will be without tickets. Unlike the European championships when UEFA allocate around 20% of the capacity to each team, FIFA allocate 8% of the saleable capacity which is after taking out around 20% for corporate sponsors, media types and so on. Consequently, you've got a hell of a lot of neutrals at each game and the potential for considerable ticket touting.
One thing that is very noticeable with the fixtures is the amount of travel involved. Unlike the former World Cup models where each group was geographically based, we now have a situation where each team plays in no ground twice. This gives us some difficult logistical issues with teams having to travel considerable distances from their base to games and supporters doing likewise. The participants will doubtless travel by special internal flights whilst the fans will generally rely on road and rail, causing an amazing number of journeys in the duration of the tournament.Whilst this may be great if you want to get about Germany and see as much as possible and also get to as many grounds as possible, there is a massive downside. As well as the sheer difficulty of the fans organising the thing and the long hours of travel involved, it is surprising that in these times of environment-consciousness that the competition is not structured in a way to minimise the travel, rather than the opposite.
Despite the difficulties though, this is a tournament to look forward to with relish. We have an England team capable of winning the cup if we have the luck with injuries and suspensions and actually play to our potential. For me, Wayne Rooney is the key-if he is fit and buzzing, he can turn any game, much like the gifted, but flawed Maradona did for the Argentinians in 1986. The group stage is one we ought to win even though we have failed to beat the Swedes since 1968, so it's about time we put that straight. If Rotherham can beat us in a league game, as they did back in August, I'm convinced that England can defeat Sweden. After that, it's to be hoped that we can avoid the Germans and the rest is crossing your fingers time. At some stage though, we'll need to beat someone decent and we are capable of that as the November game in Geneva proved. I know many will argue that it was only a friendly, but neither team treated it as such and it should have gone a long way to boosting the confidence of Sven's men.
As well as the footy, there is the general tourist bit and from my investigations, Germany certainly has much to offer its visitors. Messrs Tooley and Borrell both speak very highly of the country and not only from the standpoint of its liquid culture. No doubt many a pint will be sunk by the English throughout the tournament, hopefully with accompanying jolly banter with our hosts and the other nationalities in attendance. It would be good to leave everyone with a good impression rather than the negative images that the media like to present of the English following abroad. Like other fans, we do still have too many idiots, but they are in the minority and if the policing is sympathetic and low key, like that exhibited in Holland in 2000, there's unlikely to be a problem.
So I'm off to brush up on my rusty old schoolboy German with its formal rules and logic but will probably find that even in the most rural backwater that I won't need it as the locals will speak better English than many Premier League players born in these shores. It's a great experience this travelling abroad to watch football, you know
Last month's world cup draw was quite a strange experience-something eagerly-anticipated by those of us who follow the national team and love the international game, but the whole thing turned out to be lacking somehow. 
One thing that is very noticeable with the fixtures is the amount of travel involved. Unlike the former World Cup models where each group was geographically based, we now have a situation where each team plays in no ground twice. This gives us some difficult logistical issues with teams having to travel considerable distances from their base to games and supporters doing likewise. The participants will doubtless travel by special internal flights whilst the fans will generally rely on road and rail, causing an amazing number of journeys in the duration of the tournament. Whilst this may be great if you want to get about 
