<p>What's the difference between a tea-bag and the England football team? The tea-bag stays in a cup longer!<br /><br /></p>.<p>Heard what Spain's coach Vicente Del Bosque said to his charges after two shock losses? "Don't worry, we still have options: aisle or window seats."<br /><br />With the World Cup entering its final stages, the jokes are flying as fast as goals, helping relieve tension and -- for fans of the 24 teams already out -- the abject misery of elimination.<br /><br />Be it on, off or thousands of miles away from the pitch it has been another tournament packed with hilarity.<br /><br />The inglorious early exit of supposed European heavyweights England, Spain, Italy and Portugal brought heartache in those nations at first, then a wave of self-deprecating humour.<br /><br />One photo doing the rounds shows their four planes lined up in blue sky with the caption: "Permission to land?"<br /><br />England fans showed a fine ability to laugh at themselves, chanting during their final match the self-parodying song from a Monty Python film: 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life'.<br /><br />One fan, who flew to Brazil after England had been knocked out to see a dire 0-0 draw with Costa Rica, held up a banner mimicking a well-known credit card ad -- "Flights to Rio: 1,200 pounds. Enjoying the ambiance: 2,000 pounds. Accommodation: 2,000 pounds. Arriving after elimination: priceless."<br /><br />Naturally, the tournament's main talking point - Uruguay striker Luis Suarez's ban for biting - has spawned a vast array of doctored images depicting him variously wearing a dog-cone round his neck, a Dracula outfit, or a Hannibal Lecter mask.<br /><br />Tourists in Rio de Janeiro queued up to place their necks or arms inside his open mouth on a larger-than-life Adidas ad photo of Suarez's head. Adidas, perhaps embarrassed by negative associations round an ad made before the incident, took it down. A modified version of the Panini sticker of Suarez's victim, Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, has been circulating with a chunk missing. Yet the Uruguayan, who has apologised for the incident which earned him a four-month ban, is by no means the World Cup's only pantomime villain.<br /><br />Netherlands forward Arjen Robben, though a hero to Dutch fans for his goals and tricks, has become a target for many due to perceptions of diving and feigning fouls. The fall that gave the Netherlands a penalty earning them a last-gasp 2-1 win over Mexico has earned particular notoriety.<br /><br />A plethora of internet users have lampooned Robben as lifting an Oscar for Best Actor, competing in Olympic diving, and plunging arms-flailing off the cliffs of Acapulco.<br /><br />The sagas over Suarez and Robben have largely deflected attention from the man many fans most love to mock, Sepp Blatter, head of the sport's world governing body FIFA.<br /><br />One company in England, where he comes under constant fire from media over his management of FIFA, launched a new online game in which the player hurls gold, money and riches into the mouth of a guffawing Blatter-like persona crying "Give me more!"<br /><br />Reporters at FIFA's briefings have been asking whether Blatter's low profile here in Brazil is to avoid being booed in public. It's an "editorial" policy, officials say.<br /><br />Once they take the field, it's a deadly serious game for players, and few would dare joke around.<br /><br />Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has appeared blissfully unaware of the smiles his manic-looking celebrations have caused, turning him into an internet sensation during the World Cup.<br /><br />Back to the European flops.<br /><br />There was a touch of high art in one jest at Spanish coach Del Bosque's expense, his head super-imposed over Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' painting.<br /><br />And English satirical magazine Private Eye was so sure of what was coming in Brazil, even before the games had begun, it printed a front-cover showing the players alighting from their plane while the pilot asks: "Shall I keep the engines running?" <br /></p>
<p>What's the difference between a tea-bag and the England football team? The tea-bag stays in a cup longer!<br /><br /></p>.<p>Heard what Spain's coach Vicente Del Bosque said to his charges after two shock losses? "Don't worry, we still have options: aisle or window seats."<br /><br />With the World Cup entering its final stages, the jokes are flying as fast as goals, helping relieve tension and -- for fans of the 24 teams already out -- the abject misery of elimination.<br /><br />Be it on, off or thousands of miles away from the pitch it has been another tournament packed with hilarity.<br /><br />The inglorious early exit of supposed European heavyweights England, Spain, Italy and Portugal brought heartache in those nations at first, then a wave of self-deprecating humour.<br /><br />One photo doing the rounds shows their four planes lined up in blue sky with the caption: "Permission to land?"<br /><br />England fans showed a fine ability to laugh at themselves, chanting during their final match the self-parodying song from a Monty Python film: 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life'.<br /><br />One fan, who flew to Brazil after England had been knocked out to see a dire 0-0 draw with Costa Rica, held up a banner mimicking a well-known credit card ad -- "Flights to Rio: 1,200 pounds. Enjoying the ambiance: 2,000 pounds. Accommodation: 2,000 pounds. Arriving after elimination: priceless."<br /><br />Naturally, the tournament's main talking point - Uruguay striker Luis Suarez's ban for biting - has spawned a vast array of doctored images depicting him variously wearing a dog-cone round his neck, a Dracula outfit, or a Hannibal Lecter mask.<br /><br />Tourists in Rio de Janeiro queued up to place their necks or arms inside his open mouth on a larger-than-life Adidas ad photo of Suarez's head. Adidas, perhaps embarrassed by negative associations round an ad made before the incident, took it down. A modified version of the Panini sticker of Suarez's victim, Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, has been circulating with a chunk missing. Yet the Uruguayan, who has apologised for the incident which earned him a four-month ban, is by no means the World Cup's only pantomime villain.<br /><br />Netherlands forward Arjen Robben, though a hero to Dutch fans for his goals and tricks, has become a target for many due to perceptions of diving and feigning fouls. The fall that gave the Netherlands a penalty earning them a last-gasp 2-1 win over Mexico has earned particular notoriety.<br /><br />A plethora of internet users have lampooned Robben as lifting an Oscar for Best Actor, competing in Olympic diving, and plunging arms-flailing off the cliffs of Acapulco.<br /><br />The sagas over Suarez and Robben have largely deflected attention from the man many fans most love to mock, Sepp Blatter, head of the sport's world governing body FIFA.<br /><br />One company in England, where he comes under constant fire from media over his management of FIFA, launched a new online game in which the player hurls gold, money and riches into the mouth of a guffawing Blatter-like persona crying "Give me more!"<br /><br />Reporters at FIFA's briefings have been asking whether Blatter's low profile here in Brazil is to avoid being booed in public. It's an "editorial" policy, officials say.<br /><br />Once they take the field, it's a deadly serious game for players, and few would dare joke around.<br /><br />Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has appeared blissfully unaware of the smiles his manic-looking celebrations have caused, turning him into an internet sensation during the World Cup.<br /><br />Back to the European flops.<br /><br />There was a touch of high art in one jest at Spanish coach Del Bosque's expense, his head super-imposed over Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' painting.<br /><br />And English satirical magazine Private Eye was so sure of what was coming in Brazil, even before the games had begun, it printed a front-cover showing the players alighting from their plane while the pilot asks: "Shall I keep the engines running?" <br /></p>