[aries22]

Interesting, Danny.
We shouldn't forget that it's the WORLD Cup, and not just designed for us in Europe/S.America, but  World Cups and Summer Olympics are ALWAYS played out in the Summer months.

Not quite true. Every time the World Cup is held in June/July in South America (or South Africa, as was the case in 2010) it's their winter, and comes in the middle of their domestic seasons. We Europeans just expect them to drop everything, hold a World Cup and fit their seasons around the World Cup.