World Cup 2006
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Harry Harris - Chief Football Writer - The Express
Prawn sarnies, cap controversy and Swedish sentiment
I shall be watching the England-Sweden match in a Soho pub, having been on UKTVG2 the previous night on the cream sofa for alternative coverage of the World Cup television extravaganza.
I watched the opening England game in Frankfurt with the prawn sandwich brigade, the corporate hospitality take on the tournament. It might surprise you to know that most of them turned up in their England shirts and shouted louder than anyone! And, as anyone who has been watching this ntlworld web site closely, I have been hosting my own TV and radio, web-cast and pod casts World Cup shows.
Surely nobody has under taken a wider perspective of any World Cup. Yes, I am trying to look at the biggest global sporting event from a variety of vantage points. Of course, I am cheating when I tell you I shall be in a pub viewing the England-Sweden game because it does give the impression I am taking my chances alongside the ’punters’, a horrible term for really what are genuine footie fans.
In fact I am a guest of Bravo TV who have hired a pub in Soho to sample an authentic atmosphere. It’s the nearest I dare come to mixing it with the true fans. As it happens, all the fans, or guest, or whatever the mix of fans at the Bravo bash, are going to be in a good mood as I predict a win for England - and that doesn't often happen!
Rooney is off the leash and I am a big fan. After all, I co-wrote a biography of the Boy Wonder a couple of years ago with the Daily Star’s Danny Fullbrook. There has been a lot of criticism of England’s performances but once Rooney strikes top form, all will be vastly different. Rooney is the key, he has the edge, he can take England to another level. He can prove he is better than Lionel Messi, and be the best young player of the tournament.
Sven will play Rooney in his deep role with Owen spearheading the attack. But it does seem odd to me that Owen was suggesting he preferred to play alongside Crouch for the knock downs and now he's blaming Crouch for the lack of chances!
It appears that any excuse will do for a striker on a barren spell. It’s happened before to Shearer and Lineker, so it won't be long before Owen strikes his first of the tournament.
Sven will hope that Rooney's presence will mean the attack is more mobile and dynamic, with defenders so worried about Rooney that Owen will gain more space. Rooney also has a killer pass in his locker, which England had hoped would come from Gerrard. Sven will try out the holding role again with Owen Hargreaves and there is even talk of Jenas getting a game. Who would have thought it?
And Sven has taken a big gamble, taking on Sir Alex and winning that battle. Now he can be the top Swedish coach in the World Cup by finally beating his home country. England’s defence is also looking good, but I have a feeling they might concede their first goal. Prediction 2-1 to Rooney.
The idea of hosting my own World Cup show has really taken off. Last week, the guest list was formidable, with Harry Redknapp, Paul Parker, Peter Bonetti, Mel Stein (Gazza’s old lawyer), Gordon Taylor on the phone and also Chris Hull who runs the Nationwide England sponsorship, as our ‘mole’ in the England camp. Mark Mitchinson from Samsung Mobiles was also in the pod live to talk about the sponsorship issues in the World Cup. The battle of the brands took the most amazing twist of all time when Adidas ordered that all England fans wearing Nike caps had the offending head gear removed for the match against Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremburg.
Adidas pay a fortune for the branding rights for the 2006 World cup in Germany but discovered that fashion conscious British prefer the Nike brand, and their head gear was far too visible for Adidas liking. Adidas launched a compliant to FIFA and FIFA instructed stewards to remove the caps, issue receipts, and the fans would recover their caps after the game.
There are 15 sponsors and partners paying millions to FIFA for endorsements, while other sponsors have organised corporate packages to take key clients to the game. The tournament had become the biggest branding event in World cup history, but the cap confiscation was an issue that Chris of Nationwide, who sponsor the England team, had never heard of before. Hull was exclusively interviewed on a new web-cast, pod-cast World Cup series of programmes on ntlworld.com where he told me: ‘The fans wearing the caps had them removed, they were given receipts and could get the caps back at the end of the game. Adidas complained to FIFA and FIFA instructed the stewards to take such bizarre action. I’ve never seen anything like it. What if those fans without caps had suffered sun stroke? Would FIFA have been culpable?’
We also pulled off a World Cup coup by netting the first ever UK interview on radio or TV with the worlds No1 football agent Pini Zahavi. The Israeli super agent was in Germany and agreed to be interviewed while on his mobile in the back of a car on his way to the airport as part of his whistle stop tour of the games in the finals.
Related Links
Harry Harris archive
- 1. Harry Harris writes for ntlworld
- 2. Can England do it This Time?
- 3. There's only one Metatarsal
- 4. England best for talent
- 5. Bags packed, fingers crossed
- 6. Thrills, spills and intrigue
- 7. Prawn sarnies, cap controversy and Swedish sentiment
- 8. Swedish endurance in Soho
- 9. Scolari has some explaining to do
- 10. Give Rooney the armband
- 11. A triumph for Germany