All packed and ready to rumble

All packed up and ready to fly from Kabul to Dubai tonight. Have three 'fake' wallets stuffed with small bank notes from numerous countries which are to be used if mugged. Fly from Dubai to J'burg tomorrow. Immediately upon arrival I need to collect match tickets and register the SIM card kindly provided by WC sponsors MTN. Then collect the rent a car and drive to my initial base outside Rustenburg, venue for England's opening game v USA on Saturday night. England's dire performance in warm-up games to date is a huge concern. Minor consolation is taken from the poor starts to tournaments made by past winners such as Germany and Italy. The nerves are starting to tingle. Have we played too few warm up games? Only 3 this year contrasts with SA which seems to be playing twice a week and have had noticeable victories against good teams of late. From being no-hopers from even qualifying from their group a few months back, now they look like they'll have a real chance of a last 16 place. This can only be good for the tournament. Will Rooney blow another fuse in the WC? The BBC World Service yesterday had a great interview with the local amateur SA referee