Neville Dalton is a journalist and a Portsmouth fan of more than 40 years.

Another World Cup to look forward to. A chance to watch the world's greatest footballers - including some we have come to know pretty well - clashing in sport's ultimate contest.

The chance to watch the likes of Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Nani, Michael Essien, Rio Ferdinand and Jon-Obi Mikel in opposition on football's global stage.

Except we won't. Most - if not all - of these terrific players who have enhanced our Premier League will not play at all in South Africa because of injury, many incurred in the weeks leading up to the prestigious event.

I'm sure there are several more from other national leagues, too - I gather Italian treble-winner Sulley Muntari is doubtful for Ghana.

But most of the top-class injured players have one thing in common - they play in England's ultra-competitive Premier League.

Even though not all their injuries were sustained while playing in the league, can it really be coincidence that so many athletes, supposedly in the prime of their careers, should succumb to injury at the end of another marathon Premier League season?

England remains one of the few elite European countries not to have a mid-winter break, in spite - or more probably because - of the fact that our season is one of the longest and most gruelling.

The only "rest" weekends are when our top stars are in international action anyway, and with a League Cup competition - as well as the FA Cup - on top of the two major European tournaments, players in our domestic leagues are putting their muscles and joints through all kinds of punishment that their colleagues in many other countries just don't have to endure.

It's hard to legislate for the type of "tackle" that put Ballack out of the tournament, but I wonder how many other countries' top cup contests would have attracted such a competitive approach, so soon after the end of the league season, and so close to the World Cup?

It strikes me that our players are hit by serious injury more often than in any other league - and how many times have we seen players returning from long-term ailments only to suffer another as they drive themselves (or are driven) back into a league where they have to hit the ground running, so to speak?

The answer is surely to reduce the size of the Premier League, as I've been advocating for many years.

I know it probably won't happen because of the self-interest of those already in it and those who feel they have a good chance of joining it.

And I know the levels of cash splashing about in the league will be cited.

But if Pompey's plight this season - and the realisation that the country's biggest and apparently richest clubs owe billions of pounds, debts that could engulf them if push came to shove - is anything to go by, we should be looking for a new, more responsible approach to financing football in the future, much as the Government is having to do with our public debt.

Fewer teams mean fewer fixtures, and we hope fewer injuries.

It should also help England avoid their traditional end-of-season malaise, which generally means our squad is knackered before it treads the turf for the major summer tournaments.

With a bit of luck, it should also help ensure a better quality elite division in England, because while it has been a privilege to watch Pompey compete on level terms with some of the best club sides - and players - in the world, we should not kid ourselves that more than a handful of fixtures each week showcase English football at its best.

From last season alone, Wigan, Hull, Wolves, West Ham, Sunderland and Stoke, as well, of course, as Pompey, did not really merit top-flight billing, at least not on the evidence of what I saw.

Yes, there will always be "makeweight" clubs in the Premier League, and every so often one of them will surprise us all, as Wigan and Reading did a few years back.

But a slightly slimmed-down league, of 16-18 teams would surely ensure a higher percentage of top-quality games - and more importantly, reduce the risk of serious injuries that mean that whatever the marketing people might say, we will NOT be watching the world's greatest players in head-to-head combat over the next four weeks.

Speaking of the World Cup, it was interesting to see the latest reader poll in Portsmouth's local paper, The News.

It asked: Which current Pompey player do you back to have the most successful World Cup?

It lists all Pompey's participants: Kevin-Prince Boateng, David James, Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda, Kanu, John Utaka and Aaron Mokoena.

Unusually, I gave the poll more than a fleeting thought, and do you know what? I couldn't pick one.

Yes, they've all got talent. But will any of them be stamping their mark on the tournament, even if it is shorn of some of the world's best players?

Boateng may get a few games as a result of Muntari's injury. But while I have a feeling that Ghana may do OK, I can't help thinking his slightly headless-chicken approach - not to mention the special treatment he's likely to receive at the hands of Ballack's compatriots - will fail to single him out as a star of the tournament.

Much the same (except for the Germany bit) applies to Belhadj, and his Algerian colleague Yebda is another who has to prove himself after injury before getting the chance to show that his mediocrity in the Premier League can be improved upon on football's greatest stage.

I'm not even sure David James will be England's regular tournament goalkeeper, despite an outstanding second half to the domestic season. And am I the only one who thinks he betrays a lack of confidence at international level that he rarely shows on the club stage?

I know Kanu has been made Nigeria's captain, but is he really likely to set the pace in South Africa?

As for his compatriot, Utaka, funnily enough he's started to grow on me just as his Pompey career appears to be coming to an end.

Ironically, I suspect he and another who has been a regular target for Pompey critics - Mokoena - may prove the pick of a pretty undistinguished Fratton bunch at the World Cup.

Mokoena's whole approach has impressed me. I readily dismissed the first two-thirds of his Pompey career as totally unacceptable for a Premier League player, and he was regularly the weakest link in an unfortunately weak team for much of that time.

But despite the criticism and self-evidence of his performances, he never let his head drop; he kept believing, and even on his bad days he always gave total commitment.

His latter performances at centre-back, particularly alongside the classy Ricardo Rocha, underlined that attitude and impressively won over most, if not all, of his critics.

It comes to something that when I read of his determination to leave to pursue his Premier League career, I actually felt disappointed.

Whether he does depart, his attitude should stand as an example for his fellow professionals to aspire to.

I love predictions games, though I rarely shine at them. But I thought I'd try the BBC Sport tournament predictor.

My pre-predictor predictions were that I fancied Spain, USA, Ghana and Brazil - in that order.

But running through the Beeb's natty tool, I discovered that if the groups panned out as my match results predicted, Ghana and the USA would be meeting long before the last four, so it's more difficult than you might think to correctly pick out the finalists, let alone winner.

But if the predictor is to be believed, expect a Spain v Brazil final, with the Spanish taking the trophy, while USA pip Germany to third place.

I'll analyse where I went wrong in about a month's time.

Happy watching.