Our completely unofficial daily guide to World Cup retail
SELL, SELL, SELL: So it begins. As proceedings kick off this evening in Munich it's action stations for retailers in the UK - red pens at the ready. Yes, it's time to get rid of those England bottle openers, hair creams and plush lions - just in case, in case, things go wrong badly in Frankfurt tomorrow. Almost no value for that cross of St George barbi set if Paraguay prevails. Beautiful game. 'Think WHSmith' says an advert in today's Times with a strongly promotional tinge to it.

BUY, BUY, BUY: In similar mode, news reaches us that Muji is offering 10 per cent off everything in its stores tomorrow to 'celebrate' England's first match of the World Cup. Given that a fair proportion of the nation will be glued to the telly after lunch tomorrow, this looks more like a last-ditch attempt to tear some of us away from the box.

THE OTHER BIG ONE: Depressingly, according to internet monitoring company Hitwise, we are more likely to go looking for information about Big Brother than trying to find out more about the niceties of the footie fest. Following the launch of Big Brother 7 (will it ever end?) the series ranked fourth in the league of most-searched for terms, with the World Cup coming in at 182. To be fair, type in the names Rooney, Beckham or Ronaldinho and things do change.

AND FINALLY: According to consultants Grant Thornton, if England win we could be in for an unparalleled consumer spending spree that might top the£1 billion mark. Everything comes at a price, however. In the lead-up to the victory we're all hoping for, employees going AWOL or being distinctly absent-minded could come at a price of£1.26 billion. No gain, lots of pain therefore.

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