While international footy in the world of solid 3D fleshy things is proving pretty depressing (unless you come from a country that can actually play the game), the FIFA Interactive World Cup is getting nicely under way.

Since the PlayStation 3 exclusive event kicked off last month, an impressive 10,000 players from 25 countries have begun kicking it out over the PlayStation Network. This month, things have moved on to the first live qualifying events in Denmark, the Netherlands and Hungary.

"The FIFA Interactive World Cup is a fantastic opportunity for all football fans to show off their skills and passion for the sport with FIFA 08", said Barcelona has-been, Ronaldinho. "It is a great tournament in which you have to train and work hard to succeed – just like in real football, so I invite all fans to register and enjoy this party of interactive football."

Yeah. Cheers, Ronaldinho. Thanks. SPOnG's off to splash tears on to our PS3 now as we lament the home nations' piss poor performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers last week.

Konami might want to do the same, given its recent problems with online play in PES 2008...