Argentinean World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles is one of three new faces on the RTÉ Sport team for their coverage of the 2010 showpiece in South Africa. Republic of Ireland defender Kevin Kilbane and one-time German international Dietmar Hamann are the other two debutants.
There’s a welcome return to Montrose for Liam Brady for the first time since he stepped down from his role as Giovanni Trapattoni’s assistant coach, while Richie Sadlier and Denis Irwin will also be offering their two cents in the studio.
Of course, the usual suspects of John Giles, Eamonn Dunphy, Graeme Souness and Ronnie Whelan will be on hand to help the new faces settle in before inexplicably turning on them and branding their opinion “waffle”.
As ever, Bill O’Herlihy will be the chair at the top table, with Darragh Maloney, Peter Collins and Con Murphy there as back-up.
The away team will be lead by Jimmy McGee and George Hamilton, who have Ray Houghton, Gabriel Egan, Trevor Steven, Stephen Alkin, Damian Richardson, Adrian Eames and Matt Holland in support.
In total, the station will broadcast, dissect, critique and eventually rubbish 56 of the 64 games from South Africa, while there will be highlights of the other eight.
Of course, the Après Match team is also back onside.