Thrilled fans welcome authentic World Cup Trophy
By Chen Xiangfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-16 06:04

China's football fans, who have seen the World Cup Trophy come to the country in 1998 and 2002, were far more carried away this time after the nation welcomed the real trophy for the first time yesterday.

"It is the real one, which will be presented to the winners of the 2006 World Cup," said FIFA spokesman Emmanuel Maradas, in response to doubts about the trophy's authenticity from reporters and fans. "It is also the first time it is coming to China. The previous ones are replicas.

"The FIFA World Cup Trophy is travelling to 28 countries on all five continents because it belongs to everyone, and because it brings happiness to everyone."

True to his word, the trophy had lured hundreds of thousands of Chinese football lovers yesterday to witness the one-and-only trophy in its exhibition in Peking University. The mania over the trophy demonstrates once again that the magnificent game spreads happiness far beyond the confines of the pitch and terraces.

The trophy leaves for Sydney of Australia today for its next visit.

The interest of the fans in the 2006 World Cup has also been stirred less than three months before the battle to win the symbol of world football supremacy.

"I just cannot wait to enjoy the World Cup matches in Germany. I hope my favourite team will win the trophy," said Fan Jing, a 25-year-old woman from Beijing.

Du Yuanbo, a student from Peking University, was also overjoyed to see the arrival of the cherished sports icon.

"I was so excited when the trophy was unveiled in front of us," Du said. "It reminded me of 2002 when I watched Brazil pick up the trophy on TV."

The Coca-Cola Company and FIFA are responsible for bringing the trophy to the capital city of China as part of a 31-city global exhibition tour, lasting from January until early April and covering 28 countries.

"As one of the longest-standing sponsors of the FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola is proud to bring the passions of football to different countries around the world, including China," said IIan Sobel, vice-president and general manager of Strategic Marketing and Innovation for the Coca-Cola (China) Beverages Ltd. "We are bringing all the thrills of the World Cup to the hearts of fans. This trophy tour is an example of how Coca-Cola connects people with their passions."

Apart from the trophy, fans also enjoyed a specially created short feature film about the authentic Cup Trophy. The short film was partially produced using the latest 3-D technology.

"The trophy was renovated in the middle of last year in Milan of Italy," said Maradas. "We made some changes and transformations."

But for China, a perennial underachiever in sports, the dream to pick up the statuette is still far away.

"There is a long, long way to go to have the dream come true. I just hope the trophy's presence in Beijing will whet the appetite of football lovers," said Nan Yong, vice-president of China Football Association. "And also it will help encourage everyone to unite and work harder to guide China's football team into the 2010 finals."

(China Daily 03/16/2006 page16)