May 16, 2002

PARIS, May 16 (AFP) - Before the betting over who will win the World Cup gets seriously underway, the race is already on to find the best -- and worst -- World Cup song.

If France, England and the host nations are anything to go by, several official tunes have a good chance of winning the booby prize.

Tournament co-hosts South Korea and Japan have cobbled together a pop song involving two bands from each country -- some observers suggest the result is drivel for dribbling to.

But fans have shown the red card to the song's sugary plea for reconciliation between the longtime foes, which has nothing to do with slugging it out on the pitch ("It was as if sea currents did not mix/ Separated by land in between... / I will follow up the story of love you spin with this feeling of mine.")

Especially as Tokyo and Seoul are still haggling over the protocol for playing their national anthems before each World Cup match.

England's official song, "We're on the Ball", a rehash of an old Arsenal anthem by pop duo Ant and Dec, is due to be released on May 27. But many of the fans who got a sneak preview of the ditty weren't impressed.

"That has to be ... the worst song, World Cup or otherwise, ever," groaned one supporter, writing on the BBC's World Cup website.

"Ant and Dec's so-called song is so bad, I cried myself to sleep," another distraught fan wrote.

"It's not catchy enough," grumbled a third. "What works is something that is already a terrace anthem" - like "Three Lions", the unofficial England mantra for the 1996 European Championships, which had stadiums packed with emotional fans chanting: "It's coming home, football's coming home." It remains the song of choice for most English fans.

The French effort is hardly likely to have the punters swaying in the stands either.

It features aging rock star Johnny Hallyday belting out a rock number of the type he has been churning regularly out since 1952.

While well-intentioned, the lyrics are hardly inspirational -- "We are the champions/ We're all together/ It's the big game/ France is on its feet." And Gallic rock doesn't actually swing.

On Tuesday satirical television puppet show Les Guignols voiced what many French supporters might be tempted to think. When the wrinkly Johnny puppet starts strutting his stuff in front of a team of agile young players, the latex French goalkeeper Fabian Barthez tells him to shove off elsewhere and stop wrecking their concentration.

The choice for Sweden, whose team is in the same first-phase group as England and Nigeria and Argentina, is more a lecture than a laddish chant.

The wittily titled "We're going to the World Cup" was written by diminutive rock star Magnus Uggla, known for lyrics that often feature sarcasm and a fair amount of "Whoa-o-o-oahs".

In the 2002 World Cup song, Uggla chides Sweden's 1994 World Cup team for only finishing third - which was considered a remarkable result by almost everyone else.

"Too many babes and rock'n'roll, barbecues and champagne/ A few players got cramps and couldn't make it all the way ... If you're thinking of winning over there in the Far East/ And are hoping for some response/ Don't come home and brag about a bronze," he scolds.

He also gives the 2002 team a few tips on how to win. "Eat only rice and sushi like the Japanese" and "Play out on the football pitch/ Don't be running around with the geishas on the town".

"The song will certainly get lots of airplay during the World Cup but as with most of Uggla's hits, anyone with any taste in music will change the station when it comes on the radio," commented one American journalist based in Stockholm.

Germany, whose team was humiliated by Wales in a friendly match on Tuesday, wisely decided against a national soccer anthem this year.

In fact one unofficial chant that could become a popular refrain among English fans at the World Cup is the light-hearted tribute to the England coach released after his team hammered Germany 5-1 last October.

It goes: "Sven, Sven, Sven-Goran Eriksson/ He's a lovely geezer but don't forget that he's from Svee-den."

Meanwhile FIFA's official website promises that its own World Cup song -- "Boom" by American singer Anastacia -- will offer "the perfect rallying cry for football fans the world over ... regardless of whether their team wins or loses".

But it's hard to imagine a horde of deliriously excited soccer fanatics warbling: "If I go away/ Would you follow me/ To that special place of tranquility/ Where the river flows/ And the fields are golden." Except perhaps if their team loses!

Soccerway