Politics v Football

The political stalemate continues as the weeks pass by since the Czech elections took place, with neither the left or the right able to form a government, this must be a very worrying time for the people. However, it appears that trying to sort out and stabilise the government is the last thing on their mind as football fever grips the nation. Yes, Czechs have got far more important things on their minds at the moment - Jan Koller's thigh and Milan Baros's foot to name but two. For the next few weeks the Czech Republic along with the rest of the world will be glued to their TV screens for the World Cup.

You don't have to go far in Prague these days to find people watching or playing football - there's a mini pitch at the bottom of the Wenceslas Square, and big screens set up in a number of locations around the city centre. Vinohrady's legendary Riegrovy Sady beer garden has got two of them.

There was a very international feel to Riegrovy Sady on Tuesday, with fans from all over the world, not just Czechs, Brazilians and Croatians. The world cup is being watched all over Europe with a mix of nationalities together cheering the teams and drinking beer and having fun. Many fans not just supporting one team but also their favourite adopted team, like myself who cheers on the Czechs and the English. What a difficult match if they have to play each other? I hope that the games become more exciting as many that I have watched til now have really been little boring, but as the competition builds I’m sure so will the tension and quality of the play.