Les miserables

BBC Sport Online takes a look at the quirky stories doing the rounds in the build-up to the World Cup.

Sacre bleu!

The French squad must be glad to see the back of their homeland after suffering a hat-trick of disasters before flying out to Japan.

First came the unexpected defeat by Belgium in Paris, a result that gave the rest of the world a tiny glimmer of hope.

But it got worse. Prior to the match the French FA handed out 75,000 blue headscarves with the slogan "allez les bleus", so fans could bade their heroes au revoir.

Blue Monday - Henry and Vieira train in Japan

Sadly, it was later discovered that said scarves were Made In Italy.

Finally, there's the song 'Tout Le Monde En Bleu' by Johnny Halliday which the French have adopted as their anthem at matches.

One problem, chaps - Mr Halliday is actually a Belgian - doh!

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Damp squib

The Japanese have been bending over backwards to make sure England's fans enjoy their stay in the Far East - and now it seems even the weather is co-operating.

The month of May has been a damp affair so far and experts predict the worst of it is far from over.

A longe-range forecast suggests the rainy season could continue right the way through June and even the final in Yokohama may be affected.

In other words, Mancunians, just pack your usual clobber.

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Pick me - Nigel

A competition fan has completed a magnificent treble by winning his third all-expenses paid trip to the World Cup.

Nigel Griffiths and a friend will be jetting out to see England's opening match against Sweden on 2 June after he came up trumps in the Sunday Times contest.

The 51-year-old bingo caller's numbers also came up in 1986, when he won a trip to Mexico, and 1990 - a jolly to Italy.

Nigel hopes to see Becks in action

Nigel predictably declared himself to be "over the moon" and added: "It's a bit like winning the Cup myself."

Some would say he has a better chance than England.

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Brazil nuts

Two Brazilians have been arrested after they were caught on the Russian World Cup team's training pitch.

Yorinobu Marcelo and Borges Sakano, who both live in Japan, entered the Nihondaira Stadium in Shimizu after scaling the fence.

A police spokesman said they did not find anything the pair could have used to damage the facilities, so the explanation that they simply wanted to "stand on the turf" may well be true.

Come on lads, it's not that difficult - just buy a ticket for a game.