World Cup Billy: Road to Rio

  • Published
  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The nearest I generally get to playing football is the occasional well-aimed fur ball. "The beautiful game," as it is known, courtesy of the great Brazilian striker, Pele, is not normally something on which I expend a great deal of thought or time. However, the coming weeks are ones in which patriotic football fever and fervour will grip my loyal heart as England prepares for the FIFA* World Cup. This year, Brazil hosts the tournament and they are the firm favourites.

If England progresses through the initial stages, you may well see the red and white flag of St. George, England's national flag, appearing in the windows of homes and fluttering from cars. These will be the first droplets of what may become a flood of football frenzy.

Five previous FIFA World Cup winners - England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - emerged from European qualifying to claim a place at Brazil 2014, with Bosnia-Herzegovina the only newcomer to football's greatest stage. Unfortunately, despite our brethren from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all battling bravely, England emerged as the only team from the United Kingdom to take part.

England will play three warm-up games ahead of the World Cup. Tonight, May 30, they will meet a youthful Peruvian team at Wembley Stadium and then will travel to Miami, FL, to encounter Ecuador and Honduras in June. Roy Hodgson, the manager of the England team, will then make the final selection of his players before flying to Rio de Janeiro, their base during the tournament.

I may not be a great follower of sports, but I have observed that psychology plays a large part in ultimate success, whether in individual or team events. Football is an obsession with many in the U.K., evoking fierce loyalty and emotion. Scottish footballer, Bill Shankly, is reputed as saying, "Some people think football is a matter of life and death -- I can assure them it is much more serious than that."

My American chums tell me that football (soccer) is growing in popularity in the United States, particularly amongst the young. The US team is not considered one of the favourites when it comes to the World Cup. However, they pull big results out of the bag and fight hard, as they showed against England in the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Any American team always has a strong spirit and they'll be trying to use that to their advantage.

The head coach for the U.S. team is German football manager and former player, Jürgen Klinsmann. As a player, Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the West German team that won the 1990 World Cup and the unified German team that won the 1996 European Championship. His experience and pedigree are a considerable .

Football is a multi-billion-pound industry and players at the upper levels are paid enormous salaries; much is expected of those to whom much is given. As with all highly-trained athletes, their fitness is on a knife-edge. I recall only too well how the nation held its breath (if you believe the media hyperbole) as our top striker, Wayne Rooney, waited to see if his damaged metatarsal (a long bone in the forefoot, prone to damage in professional footballers) would heal in time for the 2006 World Cup. In case you're wondering, it did, but England was defeated by Portugal at the quarter-final stage, and the nation sighed (yet more hyperbole).

There is always much nostalgia attached to England's World Cup campaign. The last time we won was in 1966 when the final match was between England and West Germany at Wembley Stadium, London. The black-and-white film footage is played and replayed and sound-bites from the commentary have become part of our national consciousness. We long to relive that glory, but in spite of the optimism, which seizes us every four years as the FIFA World Cup comes around, the ultimate prize continues to elude us.

Maybe this time. I shall keep my paws and whiskers crossed.

FIFA* stands for "Fédération Internationale de Football Association" and is an association governed by Swiss law, founded in 1904 and based in Zurich. It has 208 member associations and its goal is the constant improvement of football. FIFA organises the World Cup.