Are you prepared for the loudest World Cup tournament of all time? You better be. The South African ‘instrument’ known as the vuvuzela is all set to make every game a deafening wall of noise with its monotonous tones.

For South African football fans it is a ‘must have’ piece of equipment when attending a football match and you can bet there will be literally thousands of them at each venue this year.

For football fans of every other country, whether they’re at the game or watching at home, it is likely to create the most annoying atmosphere of any World Cup.

I must say though, that for England fans it may be a blessing in disguise. There is no way in a million years that the nauseating and far more annoying England band will be heard above the vuvuzela. You won’t be able to hear the endless renditions of Great Escape or any other song they may have added to their repertoire (they claim they have them – you could have fooled me).

Love them or hate them, it doesn’t matter, you WON’T hear them. The vuvuzela will make sure of that.

At one metre in length there were concerns from FIFA that the instrument could be used as a weapon by football hooligans during the month long World Cup and wanted to ban it. They did not succeed in this and besides, although originally made of tin, the majority these days are plastic. There are far more effective weapons available in a football stadium and while we all hope for a trouble-free tournament it’s highly unlikely the vuvuzela will be considered a weapon by supporters.

What is interesting is whether or not visiting supporters will join the vuvuzela party. The South Africans will have them, of course, but what will European supporters make of them? Will they join in or will they consider them a nuisance?

The South Americans have a similar instrument, so it’s not going to be the shock for them and they will likely buy their own and get right into the spirit of things.

Europeans, I think, will find it much harder to do so. In fact, by the time the World Cup is over England fans in particular could well be dreaming of the day they can hear that damn England band again.

One thing is for sure – NONE of us is going to be able to escape the droning, fog horn-like sound of the 2010 World Cup and it will live with us for a long time!