There's nothing as naff as the guy who takes the call when his mobile phone goes off during a meeting. It's not cool, just insulting to everyone else. But suppose the meeting lasts all afternoon? And supposing it's during the England-Tunisia match on Monday?

The game starts at 1.30 p.m. but won't end until 3.30 p.m. What if Tunisia scores just before the business meeting starts? The rest of the match would be absolutely compelling - through either Schadenfreude or even some weird, heightened sense of neighbourliness.

But disaster! There is sure to be no television set, no radio, no Internet, in the meeting room.

Obviously making or receiving calls on the mobile is out of the question, but what if the result was discreetly flashed onto the screen of a mobile phone? A person could appear to be concentrating hard on the discussion, staring downward in thought, but really be checking out the latest score.

And as if by football magic, Eircell has come to the rescue. Subscribers can send the text message "CUPR" to the number 1998, and receive an immediate update by Short Message Service on all world cup matches. Updated every two minutes, it costs the same as sending a normal text message. - 15p.