'And Yahoo! must score...'

Technology firms are not alone in basking in the reflected glory of the world's biggest footballing event.

But while cereal manufacturers and credit card providers have little, save their marketing bucks, to add to the experience that is World Cup 2002, technology - and the internet especially - can play an active role.

That's why Yahoo's decision not to stream live games to hard working footy fans is a real disappointment and a missed opportunity for broadband.

What better stage is there than the World Cup to demonstrate the multimedia possibility of the web? Domestic broadband is here courtesy of BT, Telewest and the rest and if ever there was a good reason to show why we need it, this is it - the world's greatest players performing at times when most of us will be sitting at our desks.

A quarter screen of live action or a sub-Teletext ticker? You decide.

There are of course barriers to a World Cup live online. Not least, there are the vested interests of BBC and ITV (and their counterparts around the world) that need protecting.

The TV companies are going to have enough trouble getting the right audience for Cameroon v Saudi Arabia at 10.00 (GMT) on Thursday 6 June without the risk of losing viewers to the internet.

Kirch, the troubled German media company with a mandate to resell World Cup rights, presumably decided to keep its wealthiest clients sweet and keep Yahoo! away from the live action.

Understandable, perhaps, but given a little more convincing and a little more money surely Kirch - which could do with the cash - would have been persuaded to sell a selection of games to the web on a live basis. Did Yahoo! push hard enough?

The second potential barrier is the technology itself - could Yahoo! have supported all those concurrent, live streams? Given Yahoo! claims it will have little trouble serving up recorded highlights to an anticipated audience of 100,000 to 500,000, the answer has to be a tentative yes.

Whether the content is live or recorded the demands on server capacity and bandwidth are enormous. If you believe you can do one, you can do the other.

So while the barriers exist, they are there to be broken down. Yahoo! is right to say that with a seven or eight hour time difference between most of Europe and the Far East, this should be the 'web's World Cup'. Yet it will only be the web's World Cup if the content providers play to the web's strengths. And that means live streaming.

In the vernacular of Hackney Marshes, Yahoo! has spooned it over the bar from six yards.