Opinion. Why Euro 2008 will be better without England

Now you might not be aware of this, but apparently Euro 2008 kicks off tomorrow.

Those irritatingly patronising BBC adverts aside, most of the English media is giving the tournament the sort of wide berth they'd normally reserve for a new Guy Ritchie movie.

The overriding opinion seems to be that if England aren't there, then nobody cares.

England, they assume, fell out of love with the international game the moment Croatia's Mladen Petric put Steve McClaren's qualification campaign out of it's misery at Wembley last November.

And let's not even mention the millions of pounds' worth of marketing budgets blown on Euro 2008 themed adverts and campaigns that won't now see the light of day in this country.

And yet I'm actually anticipating the tournament as fervently as any other in recent years.

And not just because of the mouth-watering array of talent that will be on show over the next three weeks.

No, I'm looking forward to a feast of football unspoiled by the rancid side dish of disappointment that England serve up on a biennial basis.

They'll be no sense of anti-climax when, following weeks of hysterical hype, we draw our opening game against the competition's minnows.

No sense of incandescent injustice when Wayne Rooney gets his marching orders for dissent after some particularly repulsive play-acting in the first knockout match.

No pain when England eventually crash out in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out.

No nationwide bouts of high blood pressure and hyper-tension every time Steve McClaren's perma-grinning face spouted yet more meaningless platitudes explaining away his latest tactical blunder.

No need to wade through reams and reams of outraged opinion in the papers frothing at the mouth over the off the field antics of England's players and WAGs.

And, more importantly, no need to share precious pub-space with part-time football fans with their painted faces and feckless opinions.

Of course the patriot within me thinks it's shame that England aren't at Euro 2008. But then again, the football fan within me couldn't care less.

Would we have had a realistic chance of winning it? No.

Will we be missed in Austria and Switzerland? No.

Will it be a better competition without us?

Probably, yes.

And with no danger of the inevtiable heart-break that comes with following England,.Euro 2008 is a fantastic opportunity to fall in love with football again, So sit back and enjoy what promises to be a fantastic tournament.

And if anyone from the BBC asks you who you're supporting, just smile smugly and tell them that you want football to be the winner.

What are you most looking to about Euro 2008? Let us know in our Footy Forum .