Congratulations to Italy... But I still can't believe the sight of Zidane butting Materazzi in the chest. And, rightfully, being sent off. From the potential glory of holding aloft the World Cup for the second time, the final glorious ending to a stella career.... to being sent off for BUTTING SOMEONE IN THE CHEST (and losing the game)...If it had been written in a soccer manga, people would have complained that it wasn't realistic. As the old Mark Twain saying goes: truth is stranger than fiction.

Suddenly, Tokyo is filled with French people.. Today I overheard dozens of people speaking in French, when normally I never hear a word... It must be all the excitement of the World Cup final taking place tonight that's brought them out of their hiding places...

It's difficult for me to choose which team to support. I loved Italy when I visited it, but I have more French friends (whom I mercilessly tease, of course, as is my duty as an Englishman). One of my best friends in England was a guy called Didier LeClerq. I shared a room with him when I was 17 and we were both desperately poor... I remember him teaching me the trick of adding so much sugar to your morning cup of coffee -- free sugar liberated from coffee shops of course -- that the coffee became like treacle. You then ate this with your toast and this would fortify you for the day ahead...

So for Didier, who kept me high on sugar during my late teens, it has to be: Vive la France!

Bugger.