The actual tourney doesn’t get going for a couple of more days, but I thought I’d give you a couple of days heads up so you can start adjusting your internal clocks to enable you to catch as much of the action as you can. The tournament is in South Africa this year. It’s the first time it’s ever been held in Africa, and there’s six teams from the continent who are participating– Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and host South Africa.  A couple are legit contenders too.

In a pre-season preview of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in our June 3 issue, Stephen LaRose snuck in his prediction as to who will emerge victorious when the final whistle blows on the pitch in Johannesburg on July 11. His pick? Spain.

The other day I ran into Niall O’Hanlon outside his pub on downtown Scarth St. When I quizzed the Irish ex-pat about who he thought would win the tournament he said Spain too. He also said that because of the time difference, games will start around 9:30 a.m. in Regina and run into the mid-afternoon.

To get you in the mood, here’s video of the top ten goals from the 2006 World Cup in Germany (YouTube)