SO there we have it. The World Cup is now officially over – even if it did effectively draw to a close for the vast majority of the JCL England fans a good two weeks ago. It's hard to comprehend the disappointment experienced over the last month. We have been waiting for this tournament to [...]

SO there we have it. The World Cup is now, officially over – even if it did effectively draw to a close for the vast majority of the JCL England fans, a good two weeks ago. It's hard to comprehend the disappointment experienced over the last month. We have been waiting for this tournament to [...]

IT speaks volumes of England's horror show in South Africa that most England fans were on first name terms [...]

IT speaks volumes of England's horror show in South Africa that most England fans were on first name terms with not only the referee, but his two mates with the flags as well. It also speaks volumes of our blind jingoism that we actually went into the World Cup final rooting for Manchester United's Howard [.

JOHANNESBURG, 8 July 2010: Utter arse and everything that is wrong with modern football, Kia Joorabchian, has been accused by FIFA of putting this Sunday's World Cup final in jeopardy. FIFA delegates are now in crisis talks with Mr Joorabchian, after threats were received by the football advisor over the planned use of Sunday's match [.

JOHANNESBURG, 8 July 2010: Utter arse and everything that is wrong with modern football, Kia Joorabchian, has been accused by FIFA of putting this Sunday's World Cup final in jeopardy. FIFA delegates are now in crisis talks with Mr Joorabchian, after threats were received by the football advisor over the planned use of Sunday's match ball.

LONDON, 8 July 2010: Disco Dave Cameron, Princep of all that was once pink on a map of the world, confirmed this morning that England would be fighting its first European war in over two centuries. The quivering Fop declared that his coalition government was due to meet today to decide whether the country should [.

London, 8 July 2010: Disco Dave Cameron, Princep of all that was once pink on a map of the world, confirmed this morning that England would be fighting its first European war in over two centuries. The quivering Fop declared that his coalition government were due to meet today, to decide whether the country should go [.

IF World Cup semi-finals were settled by ethnic diversity (rather than, say, an octopus in a fish tank), then Germany would [...]

IF World Cup semi-finals were settled by ethnic diversity (rather than, say, an octopus in a fish tank), then Germany would be clear winners: less than a fistful of Germany's 23 mannschafts hail from the banks of the Rhine, the rest are an assortment of refugees, guest workers and people who once expressed a vague [.

JOHANNESBURG, 7 July 2010: A clueless woman looks set to spoil all of our colleague's fun, by winning the office World Cup Sweepstake on Sunday. Gabby Logan, a receptionist for the little known BBC Sport media organisation, who claim to have a passing interest in this year's World Cup, drew Holland during her lunch hour [.

JOHANNESBURG, 7 July 2010: A clueless woman looks set to spoil all of our colleague's fun, by winning the office World Cup Sweepstake on Sunday. Gabby Logan, a receptionist for the little known BBC Sport media organisation, who claim to have a passing interest in this year's World Cup, drew Holland during her lunch hour [.

NOT sure how much mileage is left in the gag about the Dutch being on home soil in South Africa (probably only marginally less than [...]

NOT sure how much mileage is left in the gag about the Dutch being on home soil in South Africa (probably only marginally less than the one about the South American dominance), but in the wake of Suarez's ‘Hand of God', there would be few natives honking their vuvuzelas for a Uruguay win. That Uruguay [.

Tuesday 6th July URUGUAY V NETHERLANDS, Cape Town, 7.30pm An inherent obligation to support the underdogs means we'll be rooting for Uruguay, which almost certainly means they will lose. The Dutch will be on a high after beating Brazil, and they will be favourites to vanquish another South American nation tonight.

Tuesday 6th July URUGUAY V NETHERLANDS, Cape Town, 7.30pm An inherent obligation to support the underdogs means we'll be rooting for Uruguay, which almost certainly means they will lose. The Dutch will be on a high after beating Brazil, and they will be favourites to vanquish another South American nation tonight.

DESPITE their disciplined and merciless debagging of England, Germany were still far from favourites going into their quarter-final [...]

DESPITE their disciplined and merciless debagging of England, Germany were still far from favourites going into their quarter-final [...]

DESPITE their disciplined and merciless debagging of England, Germany were still far from favourites going into their quarter-final against Argentina – which is either a measure of Maradona's expert cheerleading or England's vast incompetence. Under Maradona, Argentina have played with a freedom and spirit that England can only dream of.

AS part of the BBC and British Museum's series The History of the World in 100 Objects, Radio 4 are pleased to announce the inclusion of Edison Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé) to their radio shows and podcasts. The director of the museum, Neil MacGregor, welcomed guest speaker Diego Armando Maradona to induct Pelé into the [.