Countdown begins to England-Brazil clash

20 June, 2002 04:25 BST  

By Georgina Prodhan
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LONDON (Reuters) - The build-up to England's crunch¹ World Cup quarter final with Brazil has entered its final day as fans gear up for the first confrontation² between the two teams in 32 years.

As it has done for England's previous games in this tournament, the country is preparing to grind to a halt for the crucial two hours on Friday morning.

To keep up the excitement during two barren days while the World Cup teams rested, the historic 1970 clash when Brazil beat England 1-0 was re-run on television on Wednesday night.

Almost every England fan believes their team has a good chance of beating the favourites. England are now third-favourite with bookmakers, behind Spain.

Despite the early kick-off times -- Friday's game starts at 7:30 a.m. -- Britons have been cramming³ into pubs and bars to watch.

Almost half of the country's 60,000 pubs have extended their opening hours so fans can enjoy a traditional pint⁴ or two with their football.

Last weekend, which saw England play on Saturday and Ireland on Sunday, delighted publicans made an extra 70 million pounds as fans drank around 20 million more pints⁵ of beer than usual.

"It's the only chance for people to get together, watch the game and get the big-match atmosphere," said a spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association.

Even the games shown on weekday mornings have attracted between four and six million pub viewers, and up to 12 million have watched at home.

The BBC said England's 3-0 win over Denmark on Saturday was watched by the second-largest television audience for 10 years -- after the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.

Despite the hours lost as workers opt⁶ to stay away from their desks -- or glue their eyes to a television at work -- early signs are that industry is not suffering.

The country's main employers' association says the feel-good factor, which started at the beginning of June with celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's 50 years on the throne, will probably make up for any missed working hours.

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