Alan Shearer: “The World Cup is a once in a lifetime opportunity – just give it your best”

Premier League legend gives his thoughts ahead of the tournament opener…

I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a slight sense of trepidation ahead of this World Cup, with everything that’s happening with Russia and the wider world…

But there’s no question I am looking forward to it for football reasons, and everyone who is out in Russia already said everything is great and the welcome has been warm.

The end of the Premier League season petered out a bit, the FA Cup final was easily forgettable, and it seems a while since the Champions League final, so it will be great to see some competitive football again.  

Player or pundit?

This will be my fourth World Cup as a pundit for the BBC, and I am really looking forward to it.

There’s no comparison between playing in a World Cup and covering it for TV.  

Yes there will be a few butterflies as we’re on live and we’ll know how many people will be watching back home and we don’t just turn up, watch the match and start talking.

We do our homework, look at every team, every player, be as prepared as we can be.

As a player however, you just turn up, and you have everything, and I mean everything, done for you!  

Every single aspect of the trip is taken care of, from socks to visas!  And that means that as an England player, all you have to do is go out and perform, although as we know with England that is easier said than done.

A cheeky 18 or two

I’m in Russia for the duration of the tournament, and for the first couple of weeks, with so many games taking place, we’re on air most days, so there won’t be much downtime.