THE WORLD CUP

My first impressions of the World Cup are not good. France, Uruguay, England, Italy, Holland, Cameroun, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Portugal and now Brazil have all been, well, dull. No, that's not right; very dull. The only exciting team so far has been that perennial candidate for the dullsville award, Germany.

I don't think that seeding the teams at this stage is a good idea. There is only one "Group of Death", and even in that one, it still means that two out of Portugal, Brazil and Ivory Coast go through. Big deal. What about having a straight lottery? Then you could end up having a Group of Death consisting of Brazil, Spain, Italy and England. Now that would be exciting.

Thank goodness the Tour of Switzerland is also on in the afternoons.

Walter Blotscher