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3.37pm BST
Below the line, dublinroo has this question for y'all. Holler if you have the answers.
Here's a trivia question I got asked yesterday:
Seven World Cup winners since 1990 who have played for at least two English clubs?
3.25pm BST
That's your lot from Roy. He is off to put some cones out on the pitch and watch the lads do a few sprints. That leaves us with not much to do but argue all day about who's the best MC Biggie, Jay Z or Clint Dempsey?
3.12pm BST
And that's is where Sky say so long to the presser. Luckily we have the Twitter to know what the Brazilian journalists are asking:
Hodgson: "It's not true that we complained about Manaus or Brazil ... that nonsense should be put to bed straight away"
RH: I'm pleased to be back at a World Cup again, this time in charge of England, the team of my birth-right
RH: It's always difficult to analyse yourself. In 20 years, since 94, you hope you have evolved and the work you have done helps you improve
RH: I would like to think I'm in a better position now than I was in 94 and those experiences help me this year in Brazil
RH on Immobile and Balotelli: The headache is Prandelli's but both will be given maximum respect, they are very good players.
RH: I work on logic and what we can do in terms of preparation. I'd like to think when the whistle blows we've done everything to be ready.
3.07pm BST
Roy is asked about the threat of Pirlo and the players in his side that he reckons the Italians will be shaking in their brightly coloured boots at the very thought of:
That is a better question for Prandelli. I can't second guess him or imagine what he is telling his players. It is quite normal people focus on Andrea Pirlo for them but there are a lot of other quality players also worthy of attention. We are not hung up on one player because his team does not depend totally on one player.
I am expecting our players to run around a lot. A lot has been spoken about the conditions in Manaus. We will have to see what it brings. Let's see when we get there about how much conservation of energy will be necessary. We try to win every game and keeping possession of the ball is important. You need to move things around but we will be hoping possession leads somewhere.
"It is very exciting. We have a potential, a lot of belief in this potential but I must advise some caution because the players haven't had a lot of chances in an England shirt to show they can realise that potential. I believe it will be but first lets see some good performances in England shirts. Lets calm down before we say we have world beaters because to have world beaters you have to put an international shirt on and play very well. We have more pace, more mobility, a lot of technical players. I am not trying to play down the future looks quite bright and there are interesting times ahead. This World Cup, we are also going to need our experienced players.
3.03pm BST
More from Roy:
Yesterday's session was not too intensive. Today is when we want to have more intensive session. As week goes on we'll see tension build. What we'll have to do is make sure within our 14 players we'll be able to play our game. Conditions great today - maybe the same in Manaus.
I think we are in a better place than we were at the Euros. It is the first game of the tournament and we have had a month to prepare and also, we have been working for two years and we understand each other better and hopefully we are in a better position but it is action that counts.
3.02pm BST
Those missing Oxlade-Chamberlain quotes:
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did very well, you may have seen the running he was doing. Very positive, he was running so well and so fast and we will be stepping up his recovery in due course.
3.00pm BST
Roy is in the house. He says that the there was nothing wrong with Steven Gerard yesterday. In fact, the Liverpool captain did extra work yesterday. As for Oxlade-Chamberlain ... my feed cuts out ... but when it comes back Roy says he hopes that the Arsenal man will be fit for the second game of the World Cup, the one against Uruguay.
2.52pm BST
Our man in Berlin, Philip Oltermann, has been digging around and discovered that Franz Beckenbauer could be in a spot of bother for failing to assist the investigation into alleged corruption at Fifa. He writes:
Franz Beckenbauer faces the prospect of being fined for failing to assist the investigation into alleged corruption at Fifa.
According to the German newspaper Die Welt, Fifas ethics commission is considering sanctioning the former World Cup winner for failing to answer questions about his role in the decision to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar.
2.47pm BST
@ianmccourt Roshes are a damn fine Nike trainer. No idea about the bottoms.
2.42pm BST
OK. I'll ask it. What on earth are mayo coloured roshe's? And who are the certain guys that are wearing bottoms?
Who'd have thought it'd be raining in Rio.... There's me thinking shorts and mayo coloured roshe's. Certain guys are wearing bottoms
2.42pm BST
Who will press high, who will play three at the back and who may even favour the Christmas Tree? And how much of Michael Cox's preview will you pass off as your own hard-earned knowledge?
2.36pm BST
Send your captions to the above email address pretty please:
What's my fans up to back in England? @Alex_OxChambo @ITSOB @welcomeOVO @ovonoel @OVOREPSUPCHUBBS ballin gasolin #szn pic.twitter.com/IR8KaCEUtc
2.33pm BST
The kiss of death has firmly been planted on the cheek of Wayne Rooney.
Pelé has backed Wayne Rooney to star for England at the World Cup. Wayne Rooney has scored 39 goals for England, but he has never found the net at a World Cup despite featuring in South Africa and Germany.
The England striker struggled for fitness and form prior to the squad's training camp in Miami, but Pele expects the 28-year-old to perform well in Brazil.
2.26pm BST
Why is Mesut Özil so important in the final third? How does Thomas Müller score his goals? Why should you not bother with man-to-man marking against the Germans? Only Zico has the answers.
2.22pm BST
Just like Pirlo, eh?
2.19pm BST
Apparently, there is going to be an England press conference in the next few minutes. Stayed tuned for all jazz.
2.12pm BST
At the last World Cup it was tomato ketchup, brown sauce, squad unity and decent football. This time Fabio Capello has banned the Twitter. "I don't like when they tweet," grumbled the Russia manager. "They can still use sms though".
2.02pm BST
Said and Done's Jack Warner has been jabbering on to ITV news. In his opinion, Fifa will "never change" while Sepp Blatter remains top dog. He says:
If Blatter had one modicum of decency he wouldn't even be at Fifa still. I have been with Fifa for 30 years ... I am still the longest serving elected officer of Fifa, and under Mr Blatter? I am saying to you under Mr Blatter, Fifa will never change.
1.54pm BST
Some essential language lessons ahead of this World Cup shindig courtesy of some nice people over on the Twitter.
'My nan could have scored that!'Soccer fans essential vocabulary in Brazilian Portuguese. http://t.co/oapSeHuGCv pic.twitter.com/HElOgsmXIA
1.47pm BST
Have you spent the day counting down the time till the launch of our brilliant interactive tactical guide to the World Cup's major teams by Zico went live? Wait no more, dear friends, wait no more.
1.41pm BST
Of course not everyone in Brazil is over the moon that the World Cup show is coming to town. And street artists are just one bunch who have let their displeasure be known. Of course, most of us are stuck in the office and don't have the time at weekends to fly to Brazil and see this art for ourselves. Lucky then that the nice people over in G2 have put together this gallery for us all to gawk at and pretend we know something about street art because we once flicked through a book about Banksy while waiting for the dentist.
1.23pm BST
There are general principles in life you should live by. Treat others as you would want to be treated is a good one. Set a good example to children is another. And don't laugh at old people when they fall over is a third. Of course, there are always exceptions. Always.
1.12pm BST
Good afternoon one and all. How are you this fine day? It's about time for those in Brazil to rise and shine so expect this afternoon to be full of
excitement
news. While we are waiting for that to come rolling in like a teenager after their first experience with the demon drink, here's a piece by top Brazilian (football) expert and all-round good guy, Fernando Duarte. His topic this time is Brazilian goalkeepers and why unless injury intervenes and Jéfferson plays, only two black goalkeepers will have started a World Cup for Brazil in 64 years.
Unless injury or a massive howler takes place, the former Queens Park Rangers benchwarmer Júlio César will be the Seleçãos No1 during the World Cup. This is bad news for his understudy, Jéfferson, who has made a handful of appearances for the team, stretching back over four years and under two different managers.
And it means only an accident can alter an uncomfortable statistic in the history of the national side: in the last 64 years, only two black goalkeepers have had the honour of starting for the Seleção in a World Cup. More shocking is the fact that Moacir Barbosa and Nélson Dida, wore the No1 shirt 56 years apart.
1.01pm BST
And with that, I'm off! It's been a whole barrel o'fun. Ian McCourt will keep you company for the afternoon email him on ian.mccourt@theguardian.com if you'd like. Bye!
1.00pm BST
I'm told there's a social media-led campaign to give Rik Mayall a posthumous No1 with his, um, unusual football-linked England-themed song Noble England. It's on iTunes here, if you want to play.
12.54pm BST
To update my earlier mention of Joe Cole and the two-day Aston Villa medical he passed!
"I'm really excited," Cole said after penning his two-year contract. "It all happened really quickly, I got a call maybe a week or 10 days ago and it just felt like it was a really exciting place to come at this moment." Hmmmm.
12.46pm BST
The FA website has a statistics engine, and are boasting about the fact revealed by said engine that there are fully twice as many under-21-year-olds in their squad as in the next most under-21-year-oldful squad. You can play with the FA's engine here. To be honest none of the stats are amazing, but I quite like the way the numbers float around the screen when you fiddle with it.
12.32pm BST
These reports freshly in from Croatian sports journalist Aleksandar Holiga
It seems that Rakitic to Barca announcement is imminent. Reports emerging that he'll take his medical in Croatia team camp today.
Other breaking news from Croatia camp: dead iguana + a giant snake with head chopped off found; Brozovic the ping-pong champion.
12.23pm BST
If someone gave the average Fifa exco member a pound for every comment article about Fifa launched in the last week or so they'd probably, well, do whatever they were told. Anyway, here's another from Jules Boykoff:
The World Cup launches in Brazil on Thursday, but there's no need to wait for dramatic action the festival of dissent has already begun.
In the past week alone, activists from the Homeless Workers Movement marched on the São Paulo stadium where host Brazil will square off against Croatia in the tournament's opening match. In Brasilia, indigenous dissidents clashed with tear-gas-happy riot police. The hacktivist group Anonymous vowed to level cyber-attacks against World Cup corporate sponsors. Public transport workers in São Paulo leveraged their Cup-induced advantage, carrying out a strike that gridlocked the city before suspending it on Monday night.
12.08pm BST
Robbie Savage in turning-up-at-airport-with-wife's-passport drama!
12.05pm BST
Sorry about the silence. I'm a bit busy watching this:
11.50am BST
Toto Schillaci, boggle-eyed hero of the 1990 World Cup, has told the Corriere dello Sport that Ciro Immobile can be Italy's surprise star in Brazil this year.
"There are the right conditions for Immobile to be (coach Cesare) Prandelli's trump card. He has played and scored a lot this season, he is in excellent shape and has great enthusiasm just as I had in 1990," the 49-year-old said. "He is fast, sees the goal like few others and he does not have the spotlight on him."
11.45am BST
I'm not sure if these pictures are reassuring or terrifying
11.35am BST
The good news is that it's now 7.35am in Brazil, which means something might actually happen.
11.27am BST
In further England anniversary news, on this day eight years ago the team struggled to a 1-0 win over Paraguay in Frankfurt to get their 2006 World Cup campaign rolling. The man who scored their best goal of the tournament is today having a medical at Aston Villa (a two-day medical at that) ahead of a likely free transfer.
11.17am BST
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear best goal England have scored or ever will. Happy birthday to you.
10.59am BST
10.41am BST
Chapter two of The Guardian's video history of the Brazil national team, which we've chopped into four and are publishing one part at a time, is here. Watch it. Go on. Do it. Now.
10.37am BST
This ITV effort from 1986 is obviously great, though.
10.36am BST
There's a small debate below the line about the best ever World Cup themes. Here's a few to choose from. Any favourites?
10.30am BST
10.27am BST
Footballers getting on/off aeroplanes latest: Belgium are on their way to Brazil!
Brazil, here we come! #Belgium pic.twitter.com/SvFfW0HSxx
Off we go. ..rumo ao brasil #teambelgium pic.twitter.com/as4wuIjBOt
Nobody's getting passed here ... pic.twitter.com/k00va3L1K6
10.13am BST
Looks like Mario Balotelli got himself engaged last night. On a very murky beach.
She said yes.. The most important yes in my life. That was the place of my question! I Love you and http://t.co/0GarxJm43y
10.08am BST
Jonathan Wilson has written a fine piece about the Ivory Coast. I'll give you the first couple of paragraphs, but you can read the whole thing here.
Fate has not been helpful to Ivory Coast at World Cups. In 2006, as the so-called golden generation first emerged, they were drawn in an impossible group with Argentina, Holland and Serbia-Montenegro, lost their first two games and were out almost before they had begun. Four years later, they lost to Brazil, drew with Portugal and, although they beat North Korea, went out as Brazil and Portugal played out a goalless draw.
The tournament has been rather kinder on this occasion but the truth is that time has probably been called in the last-chance saloon, and the Ivorians are outside on the pavement wondering if there is anywhere else still open.
9.58am BST
Who's going to win the World Cup? What about the golden boot? How well will England do? Vote!
9.55am BST
"Yes, England's France '98 suit was hideously of its time, but McManaman still looks cool as a choc-ice," insists Matt Dony. "Staring wistfully into middle-distance, looking away from camera, a wisp of hair on his forehead, what a man. Mind you, it's not hard to look good when standing that close to Martin Keown."
9.55am BST
We asked Guardian readers to come up with some World Cup posters. And you did well.
9.38am BST
Good news if you're in Sao Paolo and, um, want to get the tube: the tube workers who were on strike now are not, at least until tomorrow. They haven't ruled out the possibility of striking their way through Thursday's opening match, when 50,000 fans are expected to use the network.
9.32am BST
Looking back over pictures of World Cup-related airport arrivals and departures, I am reminded of the horror that was England's France 98 suit:
9.27am BST
There are some absolute crackers in this gallery of World Cup-related pictures from around the world. This is a particular highlight:
9.23am BST
An interesting piece by Alex Bellos, who wrote a very good book about Brazilian football once, about some uncanny coincidences involving World Cup players and birthdays.
Talking of which:
When it's Wesley Sneijder's birthday, Wesley Sneijder gets a birthday cake. Perfect man management by Van Gaal pic.twitter.com/mgfVc3xLtC
9.03am BST
It's coming! And there's nothing much you can do about it now, so you might as well just enjoy it. Of course, you might have been enjoying it anyway. Probably were, if you're the type of person who reads World Cup build-up live blogs. The point is, whether you were enjoying it anyway or have only just started enjoying it, welcome. And if you're not enjoying it at all, the exit's this way.
As if to prove just how real it is, photographers have been camping out in the airports of Brazil and these are the people they caught arriving last night:
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