Do you work hard to avoid Teutonic workmanlike Germans, French Gallic flair and Brazilian beach football?
“Yes, I do. And during the course of a long world cup it gets increasingly hard to express yourself because, ultimately, in terms of the mechanics of the game, there’s only so many ways a centre half can head the ball away, never mind national stereotypes. There’s a finite number of words you can use and in the end, you’re bound to be repetitive. Over the course of the world cup you hear yourself day after day and you think ‘oh my goodness, I said that yesterday or I said that the day before’ and if you’re not careful you actually start to get bored of yourself and that’s a dangerous state of affairs because that’s when you’re inclined to get a bit too flamboyant with the language, at least I am, just out of boredom really. It’s just another trap you can fall into.” Do you have any rituals of preparation? “Like all other commentators at the moment I’m spending hour after hour on the internet and reading reference books and material to do my fundamental research on players and teams. In
