It's going to explode

Britain's superstar boxer is back with TheFA.com to give you his thoughts on the World Cup so far.

A world champion himself, Ricky thinks England's footballers will be world champions themselves come 9 July in Berlin.

Read his latest column here...

Hi everyone.

I've enjoyed the World Cup so far, but it's going to explode now that the quarter-finals are here.

There are going to be some cracking games, the tournament is going to set fire. I can't wait.

I'm confident we will win on Saturday. They are missing Deco - he's been on fire - so that's a big loss for them. It's going to be a difficult game though.

Everyone is panicking about us. I'm not. We are winning games. The bigger the occasion, the better we will be.

We are in the quarter-finals, sooner or later we are going to hit top gear. You don't want to peak too soon, you want to hit form when it matters.

It's a bit like in boxing. When I beat Kostya Tsyzu, I rose to the occasion, just like England will. In my last fight with Luis Collazo, it was not one of my best fights but I still got the win. The players will be confident they have got the results even without playing well.

Look at Chelsea last year. They won the Premier League, but won so many games 1-0 or 2-1. We are still winning games. Getting the result is more important than the performance.

I'm pleased to see that my friend Wayne Rooney is getting better with every game. He was a bit frustrated when he was brought off against Sweden. He was just getting fit and could not perform like he was used to.

I have not been in touch with him though. I have just left him to get on with his job. There will be so many people calling him or texting him, wishing him luck, so I will wait until he gets home.

Brazil have not been firing on all cylinders, a bit like England in many ways. They have not really hit top note, but I fancy them to beat France. Brazil are still winning 3-0 and not playing well.

I would not want to have a bet on Germany-Argentina. It's a real 50-50. Argentina are many people's tip but Germany are getting more and more confident and could cause a surprise. But I can't pick a winner there.

I think Italy will beat Ukraine and make up the last semi final spot.

There is not one team that has set the world on fire. Some of our players have not played as well as we know they can, but we have a great chance. I said I thought we could win it and I have seen nothing to make me think otherwise.