ORGANISERS of England's £10m bid to host the 2006 World Cup have kicked off their advertising campaign - eight years before the start of the tournament and five weeks before the 1998 version even gets going.
The first advert features a baby wearing football boots, lying on the flag of St George, beneath the headline: ‘The birthplace of football. There's nowhere better for 2006'. Created by top advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, the ad will appear in British and international football and sporting publications.
The advert is only the first stage of a two-year marketing campaign aimed at persuading the 24 members of FIFA's council, who will make the final decision on the venue for the 2006 Finals in two years' time, that England has a better case than fellow bidders Germany and South Africa. The main TV campaign will hit screens later this year in countries as diverse as Brazil, Costa Rica and Mali, nations still open to persuasion and whose votes could prove vital.
A whole range of further advertising and marketing moves will follow, stressing the "core reasons" why the English bid should succeed - the game was born here, the world's best footballers want to play here, England has the finest stadiums and is a cosmopolitan, ethnically-diverse country.
World Cup 2006 campaign director Alec McGivan said: "England's campaign already has enormous support, both at home and abroad. This ad sets out, in a new and innovative way, the core reasons behind our bid. We are sure it will make an enormous impact on all those that see it."

WELCOME MAT OUT FOR MATTHAEUS FORMER captain Lothar Matthaeus could be set for a dramatic return to the German squad. Coach Berti Vogts hasn't picked him since 1995, but injuries to first and second-choice sweepers Matthias Sammer and Olaf Thon could force him into a change of heart. Vogts said: I will try to talk to Lothar. I want to make sure that I have the best possible team so that we play a good World Cup tournament. Nothing else matters. Matthaeus has had an outstanding season with Bayern Munich, leading them to the runners-up spot in the Bundesliga and a place in next season's Champions League. The 37-year-old has said he would turn out if selected, and over 85 per cent of those polled by German tabloid Bild last week felt he should go to France. Capped a record 122 times by Germany and joint-holder of the country's record for most World Cup Finals Appearances with 24, he was the winning captain at Italia 90. But injuries and his critical comments in the media have made Matthaeus an international outcast for the past three years. A recall became possible two weeks ago when Schalke 04 sweeper Thon - himself a replacement for former European Player of the Year Sammer - damaged ankle ligaments.

STATES ARE ALMOST SET UNITED STATES manager Steve Sampson has announced his World Cup squad but it is two men short of the 22-man limit. Sampson, who has until June 2 to make his mind up, said he has three more players under consideration and also announced a list of eight ‘alternates' as injury cover. The English-based players named include Premiership goalkeepers Brad Friedel of Liverpool and Leicester's Kasey Keller. The no. 3 keeper is ex-Queen's Park Rangers man Jurgen Sommer. Sampson has retained goatee-wearing, guitar-playing defender Alexi Lalas, who earned himself a move to Serie A after his performances in the last World Cup, former Coventry and QPR forward Roy Wegerle and Preki, the ex-Everton winger who is now an American citizen. The USA have been drawn in the same group as Germany and Preki's country of birth Yugoslavia, as well as group minnows Iran.

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