Finland is famous for its ice hockey players and motor sport legends. For its lakes and its trees. So naturally Finland's capital, Helsinki, is where I kicked my football world cup off...
Four years ago I missed the opening game because I was on a bus travelling between Naples and Rome. I didn't make any such mistake this time. The Sports Academy, a pub in central Helsinki, was our chosen venue. It came with the highest of recommendations (from a local taxi driver) so we scouted it out a couple of days before the big kick-off. It passed the beer and food test so we were set.
My work colleagues and I squeezed ourselves in with half of Helsinki. An illustration of how global this thing is can be shown by our group, containing two Kiwis, two Americans, an Indian, a Spaniard and a Brazilian, sitting down in Finland to watch a game of football that was being played in South Africa. It's not every day you find yourself in such a situation.
The game itself was not really the best you'll ever see, but it was more about the occasion. The hosts managed a point, and could have won it near the end, which is good for the tournament. It'll keep the locals buzzing. The opening day's second game, between France and Uruguay was described by the BBC as a 'turgid affair', so I'm kind of glad I missed most of it. The choice to go and grab some dinner at a local Greek restaurant was a good one.
I'm writing this in my hotel room on the morning of what is looming as one hell of a long day. By the time I next rest in a proper bed I will have flown from Helsinki to Hong Kong (where we meet up with our tour group) then on to Johannesburg and then watched my first live South African World Cup match (Netherlands versus Denmark). I'd be tempted to say I'm getting too old for this stuff, but I think I'll just have to harden up and force myself to manage!
The Dutch match is being played at the magnificent looking Soccer City Stadium in Soweto, which is where the opening game was played. The stadium looks like one of the modern wonders of the world and from this distance it seems like South Africa is going off, so I can't wait to get there and be part of the atmosphere.
By the time you read this New Zealand will have played our first World Cup match in 28 years. The fixture in Rustenburg against Slovakia presents itself as our best chance of getting a result in South Africa but it will be tough. The All Whites have raised expectations thanks to their pre-tournament friendly results so who knows what we can achieve? The Slovakians will probably be as nervous as us so if we get a couple of breaks we may just pull off an upset. Fingers crossed.
While I'm on the other side of the world, my thoughts are still very much with the Swifts back in Matamata. The team picked up an important point in Auckland this weekend from their 0-0 draw with Western Springs. It's the first time we haven't lost in Auckland this season and, with two home games remaining in the first stage of the season, we've set ourselves up with a bloody good chance of making the top six.
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