- Title: GERMANY: Launch of interactive FIFA world cup regional final in Berlin
- Date: 11th December 2004
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (DECEMEBER 11, 2004) (EEUTERS) 1. WIDE INTERIOR OF HANGAR NUMBER 2 AT BERLIN TEMPELHOF AIRPORT, CONTAINING LARGE MOCK FOOTBALLS WITH TV SCREENS SET INTO THEM 2. PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE SCREENS AND PLAYING WITH JOYSTICKS 3. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE SCREENS AND PLAYING INTERACTIVE FOOTBALL 4. YOUNG BOYS PLAYIN
- Embargoed: 26th December 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BERLIN , GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVAAA3CN71UFZJBU30JIK54X6X0M
- Story Text: Launch of FIFA interactive world cup regional final.
German football legends Lothar Matthaeus and Rainer Calmund launched the
FIFA Interactive World Cup regional final in Berlin on Saturday (December 11).
Around 1,000 fans from all over Germany travelled to Hangar 2 at Berlin's
Tempelhof airport on Saturday (December 11) to try to qualify for the final in
Zurich at the end of the year.
Former German World Champion and current Hungarian national trainer Lothar
Matthaeus, along with former manager of Bayer Leverkusen Rainer Calmund were there to
lend their support.
Calmund said: "I am an advocate of active football, outside on the pitch or
on the street, but I have to recognise the needs of our time, of young people,
but also of older guys. They are football fans, but also want to spend their
evenings watching TV, playing cards or playing videos. And as football
representatives we are also responsible for cheering on enthusiasm for football
in video games, that is then a promotion for football as a whole."
Matthaeus, who tried the game himself, commented: "It should animate
people, that is the most important thing. We want to introduce children to
football and if they spend all their time in front of the computer then they
should at least be playing football. FIFA is behind this because we have
considered all this. Children should get involved with football, here on the
computer and perhaps tomorrow on the pitch."
Matthaeus also said he hoped Hungary, not German, wins the 2006 World Cup.
The players had gone through a series of knock-out rounds to qualify for
the German regional final. They each play their opponent one-on-one for eight minutes.
The title of FIFA Interactive Champion will be presented in Zurich on
December 19. The winner from Berlin will play in the final with seven other regional
champions, from Johannesburg, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Paris, London
and Seoul.
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