Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.

Ooh, it's too ­embarrassing to share my innermost romantic secrets - although I have written Danielle the odd poem. If anything they are more comedic than romantic. They used to be well ­received but that was before she started studying Shakespeare at drama college. Now I feel so ­inept.

I was quite good at football once, although other than that my speciality would be maths. I'm great at sudokus and find all the spin-off games pretty easy too.

The World Cup is every four years, so it's going to be a perennial problem.

If someone in the crowd spits at you, you have just got to swallow it.

The whole kiss-and-tell thing is a negative approach that often happens in a World Cup. We will see negative stories about the players and it can affect their confidence and the overall performance of the national team on the pitch, let alone the bid to actually stage the competition.

I know I am extraordinarily lucky to be doing what I am doing. I have worked hard along the way and I have been blessed too. I have had a great life.