Everybody loves England over here

Black Country man Paul Geiss has seen England fever grip his adopted country after the first round of World Cup group games in South Africa.

South Africa is currently patting itself on the back for a job well done in getting the World Cup up and running over this weekend.

Everything seems to be running smoothly at the stadiums and the hosts overcame their nerves to score a fine opening goal.

It's just a great pity that the South African team could not have held onto the lead or even increased it, given the chances that came their way in the second-half, but that has not stopped the national feel good factor down here.

They may be huge underdogs but it has been really easy to adopt 'Bafana Bafana' and get behind them.

It helps that, after some 30 years of supporting Walsall, I have limited expectations on the football field anyway.

But even in the Saddlers lowest moments I cannot remember ever seeing such a nervy, mistake filled half as South Africa produced on Friday.

It was an incredible turnaround and generated huge street parties in the winter sun. The party spirit was only slightly dampened by having to queue for 90 minutes to get into Cape Town Stadium for the evening bore draw.

Message to anyone coming to watch England on Friday – the stadium is out of this world but arrive early and bring ear plugs!

The England game against the United States at Rustenburg on Saturday night really highlighted just why English football remains so popular to watch across Africa and the world.

For ourselves, it only served to once again expose the limitations of our game and bring expectations back down to Earth. But, for the neutrals, the constantly changing possession and 30 shots on goal was a stark contrast to some of the technical, cautious football served up over the weekend.

Robert Green's life is never going to be the same again for all the wrong reasons. It is good to see that he is not blaming Jabulani, as it genuinely was a personal howler.

There are already some criticisms over the new ball, as we have seen too many shots go flying over the bar so far.

Perhaps it's interesting to note that, prior to the World Cup, the ball was used widely in the MLS in America and by the hosts in their friendly fixtures.

We now know the South Africans and the Americans can keep the ball on target – here is hoping the rest of the world can catch up soon.?