So the big day has arrived, as a certain team in canary yellow shirts enter the World Cup…

Yes folks, Togo have rolled into town and now the competition can begin in earnest.

Hmm…apologies for that mega-lame (bluffing) humour…must be all the laboured online journalism I’ve been reading. What I mean, of course, is that this evening sees the 2006 début of those most beautiful exponents of "the beautiful game" - The Boys from Brazil.

The Boys from Brazil was not, of course, simply a 1978 Nazi-hunting thriller starring Gregory Peck, but also (more importantly) the title of a delightful BBC documentary narrated by John "Motty too Hotty" Motson (recently re-released on DVD). My version is on VHS and is on its last legs now as it’s probably the most-watched video I’ve ever owned. While most football videos feel like sloppy, thrown together affairs - being little more than a succession of goals, interspersed with lame asides - The Boys From Brazil is driven by a strong and coherent narrative that perfectly captures the joyous, maddening, endlessly fascinating thing that is (and was) Brazilian football.

I have practically every second of it committed to memory and it had such a profound effect on my football-fanhood that I was genuinely worried about a possible Ireland v Brazil ¼ final in USA 1994…as I felt my loyalties would be somewhat divided. ‘Luckily’ the situation never arose, as a combination of Terry Phelan’s under-hit back pass and (poor) Packie Bonner’s one and only mistake in an Irish shirt ensured Holland would march on to meet Brazil in an enthralling match in Dallas.

That, however, was 12 years ago, at a time when Brazil had failed to win the World Cup since 1970…so things are slightly different now. A combination of continued success (as opposed to agonising near-misses - particularly in 1982) and a certain Nike-driven commercialisation of the "Samba football product" has meant that, while the boys still mean a great deal to me (in footballing terms), I no longer measure the success or failure of the World Cup on their fortunes.

Having said all that, when you read things like Nigel Adderley’s BBC Blog entry "They’re Having a Laugh" (which I commented on) and James Lawton’s piece in today’s Independent ("Brazilian blend of beauty and belief is ready to take on world") then it’s hard not to feel the old frisson of wonder and expectation creeping up and down the spine once more.

Ah screw it…at 8 O'Clock in Berlin tonight, any doubts I have about a corporative, over-paid, indulged Brazilian side may well be swept away by a tide of potent attacking football. If the magic is there once again then (on the pitch at least) nothing else matters.