The World Cup: the One Time to Love, or Tolerate, Football

You would have to have been sealed into a box and ejected into space to not know that the World Cup was on. Love it, take a passing interest in it or really loath it, the world cup is here for the next four weeks and there is nothing anyone can do about it... except for sealing all the players into a box and...

Of course, no one knows if England will be in for the full tournament, though Wayne Rooney has taken on messianic status and is believed capable of kicking England into the final. If that happens then what we've seen so far will pale into comparison. Flags will multiply again, until pubs, cars, shops and people are completely covered, besieged by fabric.

Whilst the World Cup is undoubtedly the biggest, most popular sporting event in the world - the last final had the largest television audience in history - in England it also provokes more adverse reactions than any other sporting event. A big part of this must be because of the sudden explosion of St George's Crosses and seeming legitimisation of large numbers of men bearing their beer-fattened bellies in public. The mixture of St George's Crosses, football and beer still holds many negative connotations for many. The rise of football hooliganism in the 80s, with its overtly far-right and xenophobic connotations, has done lasting damage to the English football supporter's reputation. Tabloid headlines before the England-Germany Euro 96 match - the Daily Mirror's was "Achtung Surrender" and the Sun's was "Let's Blitz Fritz" - did nothing to dispel this.

However, though football hooliganism is often seen as a uniquely English phenomenon this is far from the truth. Good, unconfrontational policing meant there was only one arrest at England matches during Euro2004 in Portugal - even though there were an estimated 250 thousand English supporters in the country. Serious rioting before, during or after matches is much more common in many other countries in the world. Whilst there have been many problems in the past and there remain many more to be solved - such as the easy lapse of numbers of supporters into making racial generalisations and performing xenophobic chants - the World Cup is exceptional due to its very size; it dramatically outgrows this fan-base.

The World Cup is one event that can bring a real diversity of people together, to overwhelm all the negatives. The World Cup doesn't have to be seen as the time when all men turn Neanderthal through watching other men kick a glorified pigs-bladder around - though granted, some do. It's a time when all those throughout the country and the world who don't normally watch football watch football. This is the one, perfect time to enjoy the sport - you can share it with billions of others around the world. Four weeks may seem like a long time, but if you think it'll be difficult to cope just remember that it's four years until the next one.