Having deliberately turned over, switched off or done something else completely when both BBC and ITV's pundits have brought up the subject of England's hopes for the tournament, I'm not entirely sure as to what the media's expectations of Roy Hodgson's side were, ahead of their game against Italy last night.
I tweeted that despite being half English, I have no affinity at all to their national sides in any sport, football or otherwise, and that is mainly down to the media side of things. Geoff Hurst this, 1966 that, Gascoigne and Italia '90, Three Lions eating Vindaloo and all that jazz. It's all living in the past and maybe in some small, remote part of my head, there is a hope that they win something soon, just so they can add something new to their repertoire of stale nostalgia.
As Scots, we too are nostalgic when it comes to our national team. We have to be, as it's been so long since we qualified. Becoming unofficial World Champions in 1967, going unbeaten in West Germany in 1974, Ally's Army, Gordon Strachan putting his leg on an advert board, and Craig Burley going from not as much of a villain to full on villain at France '98. Times to reminisce about indeed, and if there had been any type of success in that time period, we too would be harping on about it, of that I have no doubt.
But we haven't, so we don't, which means that come the next time Scotland do qualify for a major tournament, there will be very little media pressure on the squad, in comparison to that which befalls the English team every two to four years.
If there was the usual hyperbolic hype and media pressure around their opening game, then it didn't faze them in the opening stages. Raheem Sterling and Danny Welbeck, an unfancied selection by many before kick off, started the game at pace, with Sterling's early blast fooling the BBC in to thinking England had gone a goal up. The trifecta of Sterling, Welbeck and Sturridge looked lively from the off, giving the Italians problems down the wings, which the Azzurri defence by and large dealt with fairly well.
With Gigi Buffon injured, Salvatore Sigiru was put in goals and managed to fill the veteran goalie's gloves quite well, adopting the increasingly frustrating parry and push when a catch would do, with a number of low shots from distance. Despite the width that England created, it was potshots from distance that troubled Sigiru the most.
After the early flurry of England possession, Italy gained a foothold on the game, with everything going through one man, Andrea Pirlo. Even in the sweltering mid evening heat of Manaus, he barely broke sweat, dictating play after play, directing traffic in front of and behind him, without ever having to up his pace.
Here he is eating a peach. This may or may not have happened during the game.
Indeed the fastest he ran was to dummy the ball for Italy's opener. The set-pieceiest of set piece corners was taken to the edge of the box, where Pirlo let the ball run by him to Claudio Marchisio,who smacked the ball through every England player in the box and in to the net from 22 yards. It was the simplest of goals for Prandelli's side to score, and likely one that should have been far easier to defend than Hodgson's side made it look.
What they lacked in alertness at the concession of that goal, the English made up for with speed to get themselves level within 90 seconds. Wayne Rooney's only meaningful contribution of the match had him scampering down the left wing to pick out Daniel Sturridge, who blasted the ball past Sirigu from close range.
It was the type of quality that Rooney seems to show sparingly in the World Cup, which must be as frustrating for him and his team mates as it is for the England fans. He may be played out of his favoured position under Roy Hodgson's regime, but that doesn't mean that he stops being talented.
Great players can adapt their game to most systems, and while being played out wide for England might not be where he wants to be, he has to assert himself wherever deployed. I wouldn't necessarily want to sit next to Allan Kyle at work, but if I had to, I'd still put a shift in, despite being made to feel ridiculously uncomfortable next to him.
Instead of building on his delivery for Sturridge's goal, Rooney let the game and position get to him, most notably in blasting a corner kick straight out of play in the second half. By that time, Italy had retaken the lead through Mario Balotelli.
Having been denied a fantastic lobbed goal by the forehead of Phil Jagielka, Super Mario netted what would be the winner, ten minutes in to the second half. Candreva was given too much freedom on the right by Leighton Baines, crossing for the Milan striker to head home at the back post.
Balotelli's performance was rather muted, with those mentioned efforts the only real goal bound chances he had. He could have gambled a bit more when Candreva was pinging balls in to the box in the first half, but shortly after his goal, he was subbed off.
Rooney then missed a gilt edged opportunity to tie the game from eight yards, but he shot wide of Sigiru's right hand post, as the keeper dived to his left. It summed up the frustrated forward's night.
After that, Italy remained in control of the game, without having to go up a gear. The closest they came to increasing their lead was a magical free kick from Pirlo, which swerved and swooped goalwards, with Joe Hart static, only to see it bounce off the bar and away.
Things may have happened in the last ten minutes, I fell asleep.
With Costa Rica taking three goals off Uruguay in the earlier game, Italy had to settle for 2nd spot after their 2-1 win, with England sitting neatly in third in Group D. Despite the defeat, English fans can be relatively happy with the performance, and with Uruguay looking very ordinary they shouldn't have any fears of getting out of the group, unless Joel Campbell can inspire another shock for the Costa Ricans.
In the other games from yesterday/last night/this morning, Bony and Gervinho secured a 2-1 win for Ivory Coast over Japan, and Sofia Vergara inspired Colombia to a 3-0 win over Greece.
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