DUST SETTLES AND EXCITEMENT MOUNTS

The dust has settled on the draw for next summer's World Cup Finals in South Africa, and there are now under six months to go till the big kick-off.

Following the draw football fans the world over have been pouring over wall charts, plotting and predicting who will get out of their groups and how the onward journey into the knock-out stages will develop.

On paper, fate has been kind to some and cruel to others, but the reason we all get so excited about is that the world's greatest sporting spectacle is not played out on paper but on grass.

We know that there will shocks, surprises, unexpected twists, drama, heartache, passion, tears and, finally, for one nation on Planet Earth, triumph at the end of it all. We are guaranteed all of these attributes between 11 June and 11 July next summer, as South Africa becomes the theatre of dreams for 32 nations of the world.