When the game so many love to play and even more love to watch has its four yearly jamboree in the country that supposedly parties like no other and plays the game even more beautifully, who am I to let it go by unnoticed?

There is rightly much noise about the corruption at the top of football’s governing body and disquiet about the cost to Brazil of hosting the 2014 Football World Cup, and the arguments and displeasure will take some casting aside. Nonetheless, the very many things worth celebrating in this festival of sports should also be acknowledged and given their well-deserved coverage.

Brazil 2014 Logo

Unlike my brothers, nephews and many people I know, I do not do the full football season of emotional highs and lows by following a football club and dedicating a couple of afternoons or evenings a week feeling pleased, vexed or confused. I would rather have my emotional roller coaster concentrated in short periods and separated by the gaps between the African Nation’s Cup, the European Championships… and the World Cup. After all, I do also need time for the Summer and Winter Games of the Olympiads, the World Athletics Championships and tennis at Wimbledon.

So here I go for four plus weeks of being grateful that my insomnia has already set my body clock to a pattern that makes even the late night matches of Brazil 2014 viewing possibilities. I will spend evenings watching the great and the not so good, the skilful and the hopeful, the highly paid and the pretenders, the economic powers and the indebted nations, as well as the honest player and the amateur dramatist do battle for football’s greatest prize on fields dotted around the tournament’s most successful nation. As I enjoy the displays of skills and celebration, I will also be aware of and hope for all the other things that have been known to come with this tournament.

Yes, I will listen intently to the commentators, managers, players and fans who will no doubt feed us statements to remember. The blindingly obvious “football is a game of two halves” will almost certainly make the odd show while managers will tell us their “lads gave 200 percent” – I will work that one out some day. Some will tell us they lost because the other team scored more goals.

I hope to see skills that leave me more appreciative of the mega wages some of the players get: and Robbie van Persie of the Netherlands, who by the way are among my top five predictions to lift the cup, has already done so with a stunning display of agility, skill and all round awareness. Hopefully, I won’t see too many performances that leave me suspecting they are joint auditions for gymnastics and acting roles.

Sports for me has the potential to bring out the best in humanity. It also has been known to show us how bad we can get. I am hoping that Brazil 2014 will take the human journey further along the road of rewarding performance and being mutually respectful. I have my favourites to win – the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany. At work, I have chosen Russia in the sweepstake and will win £64 if they lift the trophy. The thought of images of Mr Putin shirtless on horseback galloping through the Amazon makes me grateful I am not that desperate for the £64.

Finally, I think I love the world cup because, to some extent, it represents service to one’s country and that will always do it for me.  The performances over the next month or so will also be special for bringing the people of individual nations together using  one simple phenomenon… hope.