Chinese football fans had reason to celebrate yesterday when they set eyes for the first time on the real pure-gold World Cup Trophy. Previous "trophies" that made their rounds in China in 1998 and 2002 were, sadly, only replicas.

 

"It is the real one that will be presented to the winners of the 2006 World Cup," said FIFA spokesman Emmanuel Maradas, quelling doubts that this might have been another replica.

 

"The FIFA World Cup Trophy is on a tour of 28 countries on all five continents because it belongs to everyone, and because it brings happiness to everyone." The tour, which began in January and ends in April, is organized by Coca-Cola and FIFA.

 

Hundreds of thousands of football fanatics swarmed Peking University yesterday where the trophy is on display, demonstrating that the magic of football isn't confined to the pitch and terraces. 

 

The trophy leaves for Sydney, Australia, today.

 

The trophy tour is part of a campaign to rouse interest and raise energy levels for the 2006 tournament in Germany, scheduled to take place in less than three months.

 

"I just cannot wait to watch the matches!" said Fan Jing, a 25-year-old woman from Beijing.

 

Du Yuanbo, a student from Peking University, was overjoyed to see the trophy "in the flesh". 

 

"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."

 

At the exhibition, fans were also treated to a specially created short feature film about the trophy.

 

However, they would have to be contented for the moment with just seeing, and not touching, the trophy. For China football - the team failed to qualify for Germany - the dream of winning the World Cup is still far away.

 

"There is a long, long way to go. 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 encourage everyone to unite and work harder to guide China's football team into the 2010 finals."

 

 

 

 

(China Daily March 16, 2006)