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Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro had a tournament to forget. Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images
Fabio Cannavaro had a tournament to forget. Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images

World Cup special: part six – Is the Nike TV advert cursed?

This article is more than 13 years old
Plus: BBC v ITV; Non-goalkeeping No1s; and the only bearded World Cup winner. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@guardian.co.uk

"Is the Nike advertising campaign cursed?" asks Rory Saunders.

Let's take a quick stroll through the advert. First to appear is Didier Drogba, weaving past Italian defenders before dinking the ball over a goalkeeper called Palermo (presumably the other unnamed defenders have names like Padova, Lecce and Chievo on the backs of their shirts). Drogba, of course, then broke an elbow in a warm-up game with the Ivory Coast meaning he could only make the bench for the Elephants' opening game against Portugal. A draw, a defeat and victory over North Korea later and Drogba and co were on their way home.

Next to appear, clearing Drogba's shot off the line (and sparking a future full of talk shows and dancing girls), is Fabio Cannavaro. The Azzurri's World Cup-winning captain was arguably culpable for Paraguay's goal in Italy's first game and caught napping for Slovakia's third in the final group fixture. Italy, below New Zealand and bottom of the group, were out.

Next up is Wayne Rooney, chesting the ball down and running at France defenders (called things like Rennes and Metz if Nike's Italian naming system runs true). It's pretty-much universally agreed that Rooney had a nightmare tournament, and England exited in miserable fashion at the weekend. Still, Rooney certainly had a better tournament than Theo Walcott (the intended target of Rooney's pass in the ad), who did not get picked in Fabio Capello's 23.

The pass is picked off by Franck Ribéry (while Walcott is marked by Patrice Evra) and little needs to be added to the tales of woe from the France camp this tournament: one goal, one point, out. Not to mention the feuds that erupted in South Africa, at which Evra was at the centre (of at least one, anyway).

Landon Donovan and Tim Howard are next up, looking smug as they flick through the papers bringing news of Rooney's misery. And though that means a slight upturn in fortunes – the USA at least made the knockout stages with Donovan scoring a couple – there's nothing to look too smug about. They too are out.

After Rooney tracks back and prevents Ribéry romping through on goal (remember, this isn't reality) Cesc Fábregas, flanked by Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Pique, grumpily toss the tabloids over their shoulders. It's pushing it a bit at this stage but Pique suffered a bloody nose in the group stage, Iniesta hasn't reached his admittedly vertiginous heights, while Fábregas has played a grand total of 59 minutes in Spain's four games. Still, Spain are in the quarter-finals where they face Paraguay.

Next, after everyone calls their baby Wayne and Rooney beats Roger Federer at table tennis (why would Roger Federer be good at table tennis? It's like expecting him to be good at badminton. Though, thinking about it, he probably is quite good at badminton), we see Ronaldinho producing stepover after stepover. All the stepovers in the world, though, couldn't get him into the Brazil squad. If la Seleção win the thing, he'll have played no part.

And for the grand finale we see Ronaldo romping past Dutch defenders. He didn't romp past many Spanish defenders last night, though, and Portugal are heading home, leaving Nike's Spanish contingent the sole survivors of the Nike Curse. Roque Santa Cruz and co must fancy their chances.

Nike's ill-starred campaign is not the only one to have carried something of a curse. Marks & Spencer's advertising during the tournament featured Steven Gerrard, Matthew Upson, Emile Heskey and also the hapless Walcott, while the 'Curse of the Gillette Three' was a talking point last December. Within the space of a few days Thierry Henry transformed himself from likeable, if slightly smug, va-va-voomer to Biggest Cheat In The World Ever following his handball against Ireland, Tiger Woods' life unravelled following his 2am car crash, and, slightly further down the scale admittedly, Roger Federer crashed out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in the, er, semi-finals.

And, away from Association Football, there's also the much-feared Madden Curse.

BBC v ITV

"This query has been building inside me for some time," erupted Dave Stewart last week. "Since around France 98 my friends and I have constantly felt that England always do worse at major tournaments if the match is broadcast on ITV and when they play on BBC they normally get the result they need. This World Cup I have been spouting this nonsense again and so far my ramblings have proved correct as both games have been on ITV and if England scrape through on Wednesday the game is broadcast on BBC. Is there a difference in results between ITV vs BBC broadcasts?"

Thanks to James Coppard for pointing us in the direction of this article from the FILMdetail blog last week. Plough through the waffle and you get to a tournament-by-tournament breakdown of the BBC's record against its commercial opponent.

And, conclusively, there's only one winner. Adrian Chiles, Jim Beglin, Gabriel Clark, Gareth Southgate, Clive Tyldesley Andy Townsend, can you hear me, Andy Townsend? Your boys took a helluva beating.

NON-GOALKEEPING NO1s

"Has any outfield player ever worn the No1 jersey in a World Cup," pondered Thomas Kelly a couple of weeks ago. "Does it have to be worn by a goalkeeper during the tournament or is this just convention?"

The definitive answers comes from Vincent Lacey, who lists the five outfield players to have worn No1 on their backs at a World Cup:

In 1966, Chile were the first, with right-winger Pedro Araya sporting the No1, playing in all three group games as his country crashed out at the first hurdle. Goalkeepers Adán Godoy and Juan Olivares wore No9 and No13 respectively.

In 1974, the Netherlands also adopted an alphabetical method, giving the No1 to forward Ruud Geels, but he didn't actually play in the tournament. Goalkeepers Jan Jongbloed, Piet Schrijvers and Eddy Treijtel wore No8, 18 and 21. The sole exception to the alphabetical rule was Johann Cruyff, who was given his preferred shirt, No14; had he gone along with it, he would have been the No1.

Argentina had a habit of handing out numbers alphabetically, starting in 1978, with midfielder Nolberto Alonso getting the No1, playing as a substitute in the first two games, against Hungary and France, and in the second round group game against Brazil. Goalkeepers Héctor Baley, Ubaldo Fillol and Ricardo Lavolpe wore Nos3, 5 and 13 respectively. The experiment was repeated in 1982, with Ossie Ardiles getting the No1, playing in all five of his country's games as they made it to the second group phase, with goalies Baley, Fillol and Nery Pumpido wearing Nos2, 6 and 16. Like the 1974 Dutch side, someone wanted a favoured number; Diego Maradona got his No10, instead of the No12, which went to Patriciio Hernández. In 1986, the Argentina's retained the method, with forward Sergio Almirón getting No1, though he didn't get to play during the tournament. Meanwhile Luis Islas, Pumpido and Héctor Zelada wearing Nos15, 18 and 22 respectively. Daniel Passarella, Maradona and Jorge Valdano got their favoured Nos6, 10 and 11 respectively. Argentina reverted to having a goalie with the No1 shirt in 1990.

No qualifying teams have had a non-goalkeeper No1 since, but of the five times it occurred, a team won the World Cup twice (Argentina 1978 and 1986) and finished as runner-up once (Netherlands 1974). It doesn't seem to be the case that a goalkeeper has to be No1, but tradition seems to be why they tend to get that number.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

"For some reason, I believe that no bearded player has ever won the World Cup," claimed Jonathan Taylor in 2006. "Can this be right? And I mean full beards, not stubble, goatees or moustaches - the full works."

Strict guidelines indeed, but Olly Winkles is one of several readers to remember at least one hairy-faced winner. "Step forward Sergio Batista of Argentina," writes Olly. "He sported a full-on beard in the 1986 final." You want evidence? Then check this out.

Olly adds that, "arguably, West Germany's Paul Breitner could be described as bearded in 1974 too," but despite an impressive 'tache/sideburns combo, we're not letting 'Der Afro' into the select band. Nor Fabien Barthez's 1998 goatee effort, or Ricky Villa's handlebar in 1978, both of which were good, but not good enough. Sadly there's a distinct lack of bushy facial features on show in Germany this summer, although should Gennaro Gattuso steer clear of a razor and Italy go all the way, then he'll surely be eligible to join Batista in the pantheon of hirsute legends.

For thousands more questions and answers, take a trip through the Knowledge archive

Can you help?

"Watching Al-Jazeera the other day, I noticed Scott Minto and Ali Bernarbia (a blast from City's past) doing some punditry work," writes Lee Marsden. "Are any other unlikely World Cup pundits popping up in other parts of the world?"

"I noticed that in the Algeria v USA match only one player in the Algerian starting line-up was actually born in country, the rest are born in France," notes Kai Helge Aalhus. "Have there ever been any starting line-ups with fewer players that are actually born in the country they represent?"

"It appears that a Mexican Wave always travels in the same direction (clockwise if you are looking down at the stadium from above)," reckons Peter Axton. "Is this true and if yes then why?"

Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com

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