This post is dedicated to Pille.
Mascot is an important symbol representing professional sports team, school, society, corporation, etc. It is usually represented by animal, person or thing. A mascot can bring in million of dollars in merchandise sales.
Do you know the mascot’s name for the 2006 FIFA World Cup ?
Let us all travel back to 1966 England where the first World Cup mascot was invented.
1. England 1966, World Cup Willie 
A lion(symbol of United Kingdom) wearing a Union Jack jersey with the words “World Cup”.
2. Mexico 1970, Juanito 
A boy wearing Mexico jersey, sombrero with the words “Mexico 70″. Juan is a common Spanish name.
3. West Germany 1974, Tip & Tap 
Two boys wearing West Germany jerseys, with the letters WM (Weltmeisterschaft, World Cup) and number 74.
4. Argentina 1978, Gauchito 
A boy wearing Argentina jersey, hat with the words “Argentina ’78″, neckerchieft and a whip(a type of Gauchos).
5. Spain 1982, Naranjito 
An orange wearing Spain jersey. Naranja is orange in Spanish.
6. Mexico 1986, Pique 
A jalapeno pepper wearing a sombrero and a moustache. Its name comes from picante, Spanish for spicy peppers.
7. Italy 1990, Ciao 
A stick figure with its body the colors of Italy and a football head. Its name(pronounced as chow) is an Italian greeting for goodbye and hello(rarely).
8. USA 1994, Striker 
A dog wearing the USA jersey.
9. France 1998, Footix 
A cockerel, a typical symbol of France wearing a blue jersey with the words “France 98″. It’s name is a portmanteau(word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of 2 different words) of “football” and “Asterix”(from the popular comic strip).
10. Japan/Korea 2002, Ato, Kaz & Nik(The Spheriks) 
They are computer generated creatures representing a fictional football-like sport. Ato is the coach while Kaz and Nik are players. This 3 names were selected from shortlists by users on the internet and at McDonald’s outlets in the host countries.
11. Germany 2006, Goleo and its sidekick Pille 
A lion wearing Germany jersey with the number 06 and a talking football.
12. South Africa 2010, Zakumi 
A green hair leopard wearing a shirt saying “South Africa 2010″. His name ‘Zakumi’ comes from ‘ZA’ = South Africa and ‘kumi’ = ‘10′ in various languages across Africa.
I like Juanito, Mexico 1970 mascot the most coz he’s cute (chubby face and body). Which mascot do you like ?
2006 FIFA World Cup Germany – Final & 3rd Place Playoff
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
World Cup Willie … :laughing: … if that’s the mascot for this world cup, I’ll have a field day making jokes about that name !!!
BTW … England are soooOOOoooOOOooooOOOooooOOOOOO boring … if Beckham didn’t score that free kick, I’d predict England losing on penalties …
Thanks very much for doing the post, Che-Cheh. :love:
The 1st half of the England v Ecuador match was a :sleepy: & Becks deserves a :kiss & a :hug: for his great goal.
Let us hope that the English will display a better performance against Portugal on 1st July. :daydream:
nice blog u got here. keep up the good work. I thnk Portugal gonna win on 1st July though.
Moz Monster, I think World Cup Willie is a nice name. :laughing:
All 4 England matches had been :doh:.
Pille, welcome dear.
Maybe England can beat Portugal. Remember many Portugal players were red and yellow carded. :silly:
I have 3 words for the match, sien sien sien. No team work at all! Don’t know what Lampard and Gerrard were doing also.
Portugal vs Holland was entertaining, yellow cards and red cards flying. :laughing: The referee must be :silly: that time.
muahaha…some mascots look really freakish… :phbbbt:
ee..Goleo no wear pant wan! :tongue:
Wuching, Winnie the Pooh also no wear pant wan! :doh:
Xazuru, thanks dear.
I want Portugal to win…but then 4 Portugal players were red carded today. Will Portugal team prevails ? :nailbiting:
Bryan, and also don’t know what Terry was doing either. I think now England team is like a pressure cooker that’s gonna explode anytime.
Ohh too bad I missed the flying yellow+red cards. Slept around 30+mins in first half. Figured Portugal gonna nail it.
Laksa, which one ? World Cup Willie ? :laughing: :tongue:
Wuching and Pille, opps now only I realised. But how come he got money to buy boots? :thinking:
Goleo has so much hair… forgot to shave lar…
heh!heh! the orange is rather different, no? fruit over animals. :thinking: why choose an orange?!
me gusta un sumo de naranja mucho!
Neo, Please shave his legs only.:laughing:
Dreamcatcher, yup different from the rest. :confused_2:
I think you’re saying you like to eat orange ?