NEWS FROM THE WORLD CUP

IT'S ARRIVED! THE DAY EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR
By Nadia Samie

BONN, GERMANY: It’s the day everyone has been waiting for; the mood in Germany is definitely one of excitement. Three-point-five million tickets have been sold, one billion television viewers are expected accross all continents, and the 12 host cities are prepared.

Preparations for the following four weeks have been going on for the past four years! The 32 teams are ready and 3.5 million tickets have been sold for this sporting spectacle that will play out in 12 German cities.

Tickets to any of the 64 matches have certainly not been easy to come by, so many fans will be finding a place in front of the big screens that have been set up around the country. More than 60 big screens that have been erected countrywide. More than 2000 people were expected to converge on the Cologne area alone to watch the Germany/Costa Rica clash at 6PM, which is being played in Munich.

At 7.30PM, it’s also kick-off between Poland and Equador.

There have been many injuries during the friendly matches over the past two weeks or so. Probably most notably, Wayne Rooney was ruled out of the first three games of England’s challenge. He is expected to be fit for the knockout stages. Rooney and Steven Gerrard trained with their England team-mates on Thursday ahead of their World Cup opener against Paraguay. Rooney returned to Germany on Wednesday night after undergoing a scan in Manchester on his metatarsal injury.

Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse has also been ruled out of the world cup after he suffered a fracture to his tibia during a friendly against China.