world war cup injuries mount: is football a blood sport?

Above: With Rooney obviously still not 100%, and Owen stretchered out by the Red Cross one minute into the Swedish game last night, casualties are mounting in the world cup. Or is it just a surrogate World War 3? It is certainly a globalised battle between 'super powers' Nike and Adidas, competing to rake in the profits as the world war cup's top sponsors (arms dealers).

Adidas has sold 15 million 'Teamgeist' world cup footballs at £75 each (thats adloadidas of cash), while 'Kalachnikov' Nike using 'guerrilla-marketing' tactics, is fueling civil wars worldwide, as a billion teenagers fight for the right to have sweaty feet.

Not surprisingly top mercenary David Beckham thinks the Adidas 'Teamgeist' football is "great"; he is sponsored by (fights for) ... Adidas.

POLTERGEIST

Goalkeepers seem to hate the 'Teamgeist' (if they are not sponcered by Adidas); "it feels like plastic" says German goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, "it feels like plastic" says England goalkeeper David Robinson.

Meanwhile England's 'Winston Churchill" Eriksson (a £5 million quid general) has been touring the field hospitals, with Rooney (sponsored by BUPA?) still weak after a roadside bomb attack, Owen shot in the knee, plus squaddies Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand also wounded.

However, thankfully 'England' is still part of 'Britain' (sponsored by Coke?), so there is still the 'National Health Service' (sponsored by McDonalds) to look after the injured footballers if BUPA needs to pass on the difficult work at it usually does. (Rooney was treated at a BUPA hospital in Manchester).

• BUPA is involved in a row with doctors after trying to draw up a list of approved (ie cheap) eye specialists. Hopefully there will be no fingers in the eye injuries for England.

•Latest war news: Nike says it is approaching $1.5 billion in soccer-related sales, more than double what it generated in 2002 and a huge jump from the $40 million in soccer goods it rang up in 1994, when the U.S. played host to the World Cup for the first time. Adidas, the longtime leader, is expecting a better than 30 percent sales jump this year to more than $1.5 billion.

• Gordon Brown (sponsored by Adidas?) and David Cameron (sponsored by Nike?) were at the Swedish game. Nike is one of the most boycotted companies in the world due to their history of using child labour.

world cup - football - adidas - nike - england