World Cup Diary

Confidence and expectations high among the Argentinian public

* Two out of three Argentinians expect their team to win the World Cup, according to a survey carried out in Argentina. If Marcelo Bielsa's side are not crowned world champions, then 17 per cent of those polled expect Brazil to win while 32 per cent said England would be the team they would least like to win the tournament.

* There is less talk of "soccer widows'' than in World Cups past, although women's interest in the game has apparently not reached Indonesia. Witness the latest advertising pitch from the Angsana Resort and Spa Bintan. "Their female instincts simply cannot identify with your passion for the world's greatest sport,'' it runs. "In her eyes, the World Cup is a threat to marital bliss. To avoid the nagging this year, send her off with her girlfriends to a spa for a pampering experience, far away from your TV set,'' making sure, of course, that the little lady leaves a freezer full of cooked meals to see you through to the final.

* Referees have been learning a tongue-twisting German word for common sense or tact. "Fingerspitzengefuehl", literally translated as "feeling in the fingertip", is the buzz-word Fifa is using to persuade referees to control games without over-reacting. "It is a frequent word at seminars," Fifa's refereeing commission chief, George Cumming, said. "We do not want referees to be policemen. We want them to show feeling for the game." Fifa's communications director Keith Cooper said of Cumming: "George didn't speak any German before and it was the first word he learned. He uses it all the time now."`

* A Dublin travel firm has been offered a crash course in "Japlish". "It's a hybrid between Japanese and English," explained Martin O'Regan, a spokesman for the company. He said adding vowels to English words gives people "a higher chance of being understood". Thus supermarket becomes "supermarketo" and receipt becomes "receipto." Participants were warned to look out for the local mafia, the Yakuza. "When they've had 15 pints and decide to go to the toilet against the back wheel of a car we told them not to pick the big American car," O'Regan said.

* South Korean organisers are considering whether to bring in policemen, volunteers or high school footballers to boost the gates. South Korea has used rent-a-crowds before. Organisers of the 1988 Seoul Olympics brought in thousands of local children to fill the banks of the rowing course.

* Nigeria have been ordered to print their shirt numbers in black after television companies complained that the white-on-green numerals were impossible to pick out against Argentina.

* North Korea's state TV broadcasts of France v Senegal and Ireland v Cameroon were the first sporting events from the south to be shown over the border.The broadcast showed billboards and stadium names but concealed the World Cup logo. It was not clear how they obtained the footage, but the German media company Kirch, which owns the rights, said it would not be taking any action.