It’s all about to kick off here in Brazil. I’m in Salvador, where our first match is tomorrow. We have three switchers at each venue – an 8000X for the match coverage, a 7000X for the multifeeds, and a 3000A for the stadium screen. Fortunately they’re all running smoothly, so I can just relax and have a coffee…yeah, right!

The production and tech teams here speak German, and the locals of course speak Portuguese, two languages in which I sadly have no proficiency. Enter a fantastic app called Word Lens – you point your smartphone at any text, and it appears instantly in your own language. Sounds too good to be true, but it really works, and is very handy in the restaurant! Of course it also produces some unintentionally comical results sometimes, but that’s another story.

Here’s wishing good luck to all the technical & production crews, who will need all their stamina for a demanding schedule, with travel to multiple venues, over the next month.

My tip for the final? I’m no footy expert, but I’ve got a soft spot for the local team