I've never been less excited about England - and it's wonderful

Obviously I'm still excited about the World Cup but what I'm less excited than ever for watching England play.

I'm one of those fair-weather football fans. I don't support a particular club, mainly because I only started paying attention when I went to university and lived with people who do. Supporting a football club is a bit like religion: you need to nail it down young and adult conversions are rare. My dad supported Raith Rovers, currently 7th in the Scottish Championship, but that was never a realistic option when I was a child in the East Midlands with friends who all supported Liverpool or Man. United. I keep up with who's up and who's down in the Premier League, partly because it's interesting and partly so I know who to console / mock on Monday morning at work.

But I always watched England play and some of my strongest memories are of the disbelief when David Beckham was sent off against Argentina in 1998, listening intently to the radio as England squandered a 1 goal lead against Brazil in 2002 (I was on a school trip that had to leave at half time) and Wayne Rooney being sent off against Portugal in 2006.





The build up to the World Cup is always exciting. "Real" football fans say the international tournaments are just something to keep you occupied until the season starts again but for people like me they're the time when you get most excited about football. Part of it is because they only come along every 2-4 years while there's always another premier league season next year. But the other part is because a tabloid-induced fever sweeps the country.

In 2010 and 2006 by this time we had had so many predictions of victory, so many good omens and parallels with the fabled year of '66 that victory seemed, if not assured, then at least more likely than not. In 2002 we had the infamously televised party at the Beckhams with people dressed as ninjas staging mock fight scenes for decoration. But this year, Stephen Hawking aside, that doesn't really seem to be happening.

I take this as the upside of the crushing disappointment in 2010. Never before was there such a gap between expectations and England's performance. Struggling to get out of a group the Sun infamously called E.A.S.Y (England, Algeria, Slovenia, Yanks) followed by a comprehensive dismantling by an exciting and fluid German team seriously punctured the England hype balloon. In Euro-2012, instead of confidently predicting a semi-final finish (at minimum) there was satisfaction that we reached the quarter-finals and managed to hold a far superior team to penalties.

In 2006 the quarter finals seemed like a disappointment but after 2010 it seems satisfying. England are a quarter finals team. Like Manchester United under David Moyes they can confidently defeat minnow teams like Peru but stumble in the face of 'big' teams like Germany.

It's incredibly refreshing to be going into a World Cup without the distraction of thinking we might win. It means that after England get knocked out, the transition to "well let's just enjoy some top class football from Brazil and Argentina" can be much quicker without the usual period of mourning and recrimination about how Cristiano Ronaldo or Manuel Neuer robbed us of certain victory.

So bring on the World Cup! I for one can't wait.