The whole of English TV appears to have descended on Qatar for the World Cup.
And one of the more unlikely stars of the screen has been former Premier League referee Mike Dean who has his own slot on beIN Sports entitled the Dean Machine.
Dean, who is now a VAR and something of a VAR guru, analyses decisions during games and is actually quite entertaining. Tranmere fan Dean was on duty during Argentina’s win over Poland when the big talking point was a penalty given for handball.
Lionel Messi’s spot kick was saved anyway but this column is reliably informed that penalty would never have been given in the Premier League.
The World Cup is panning out better than a lot of sceptics thought it would as a football tournament and it is so accessible for fans because it is being played in one city. Gary Neville took a huge amount of stick for signing up for beIN Sports and yet that argument now seems to have gone and been ignored because of the sheer number of big names working for the Qatar state broadcaster. Everyone is on it.
It seems a bit lame to suggest they can all shine a light particularly on issues surrounding the LGBTQ community in Qatar. They should just admit to taking the big pay cheque because that is unlikely to change any time soon.
Let’s also see if Neville gets asked about Marcus Rashford’s comments that “the standard of training wasn’t as high” when the ex-Manchester United defender was on Roy Hodgson’s coaching staff.
World Cup injury time
There has been plenty of talk about injury time during the World Cup.
England’s first game against Iran had 14 minutes added time after the first half and 10 minutes after the second. There has been a major push by FIFA and their referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina to crack down on time wasting.
It also mirrors a crackdown in the Premier League this season as there has been a push to try and ensure we get more “game time” when the ball is actually in play. A general directive has been mentioned to some clubs that it should be at least 61 minutes which is obviously over the hour mark.
A few Premier League managers might be quick to point out after the tournament that they want it to be mirrored in the English top flight because some games drop to around the 50 minute mark which frustrates the life out of them in terms of time wasting and too many stoppages.
Argentina legend on the move
Argentina legend Oscar Ruggeri had to move out of his World Cup accommodation pretty quick.
His room was flooded and a video of water seeping out underneath the front door has gone viral with all of his belongings ruined because of a leak above.
England covering the ground
Fascinating stats from STATSports - football’s leading data experts - have revealed just how much further the current England team run in a game compared to the 1966 World Cup final.
Their research was done after studying video footage of England’s historic win over Germany compared to the data now available for games out in Qatar.
Alan Ball’s total distance (TD) over 120 minutes came to 8.55km, the highest of any England player, with Bobby Moore running 7.99km and Bobby Charlton totalling 7.43km.
The current England side will run far more. Phil Foden will run an average of 10.62m a game, Harry Kane 10.99km, Harry Maguire 10.88km and Raheem Sterling running 10.82km.
STATSports also analysed how far players ran at top speed and research showed Alan Ball performed the highest, totalling 614m while Sterling almost doubles that tally, with an average of 1331m on average per match.
World Cup memorabilia
World Cup memorabilia has never been more popular.
Experts at netvouchers.co.uk have estimated the Nike Mercurial R9 1998 boots - worn by Brazil legend Ronaldo - are currently worth £3,500 and that is the highest price out there.
