Im not an England fan, havent been strongly buoyed by them for a fair few years now. I think hating half the squad and not feeling any emotional commitment from the millionaire players helped with that.
However, I will watch as many world cup games as possible, including Englands. Its a chance to see amazing players and good football that doesnt normally grace our free to air television. Its an opportunity to see teams play each other that will likely only ever face up in the world cup. Fans from all over the world, cultures coming together, Brazilian girls in bikini's, drunken dutch fellas in daft hats having the time of their lives regardless of how they under perform, bizarre stats about how there are 127 permanent Paraguayan residents in the UK (in 2006).
I soak it all up, I prey for upsets, I love every minute of the media attention each squad gets.
Yeah its true that the commercial side has ruined it for being passionate about the struggles of your team, if that the millionaires of England. And its also true that seeing mastercard signs every five seconds when you owe the f**kers a few quid is pretty annoying. But see through the plastic sheen and enjoy the tournament. Its the results and star players that get written in history, not Blatter and his Corporate cronies.