Goleo VI, commonly known as Goleo, and Pille, were the official mascots for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Goleo takes the form of a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

, and is never found far from his

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

, Pille, a talking

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Goleo is clad in a white football shirt with black collar and sleeve rims, similar to those worn by the German national team between the 1950s and 1970s, and is trouserless. He wears the shirt number 06 (for the 2006 FIFA World Cup), and has his name written above it on the back of his shirt. The Goleo costume was manufactured by

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

, at a cost of around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

250,000. The word ''Pille'', meaning "

pill Pill or The Pill may refer to: Drugs * Pill (pharmacy), referring to anything small for a specific dose of medicine * "The Pill", a general nickname for the combined oral contraceptive pill Film and television * ''The Pill'' (film), a 2011 fil ...

" in standard

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, is otherwise a common German sports

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...

for a football. Goleo was unveiled as the World Cup mascot on November 13, 2004, during the German television program '' Wetten, dass..?'', presented by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

. On May 16, 2006, the German licence holder to produce Goleo,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n toy company NICI, filed for bankruptcy. One apparent reason could be very high licence fees of around €28 million. Other sources, however, quote much lower licence fees of €3.5 million.

Reception

The choice of a lion was criticized for not being a German animal, but rather the emblem of historical rivals

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Renowned designer

Erik Spiekermann Erik Spiekermann (born 30 May 1947 in Stadthagen, Lower Saxony) is a German typographer, designer and writer. He is an honorary professor at the University of the Arts Bremen and ArtCenter College of Design. Biography Spiekermann studied art his ...

suggested that the mascot should have been an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

(which appears on Germany's coat of arms) or even a

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

as a symbol of the ''nation of frugality'' in his opinion.Star-Designer hält WM-Maskottchen "Goleo VI." für "absolute Katastrophe" - C6
/ref> Criticism has also been raised of the fact that Goleo does not wear any trousers.
/ref>

Music appearances

;"Love Generation" He was also featured in the European version of

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began DJ ...

's song " Love Generation", which was released in Germany on December 9, 2005, the day of the draw of the World Cup. ;"Dance!" A

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

Goleo also appeared in music videos for

Lumidee Lumidee Cedeño (born October 13, 1984) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She quickly rose to fame in 2003 with the release of her song "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", which peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ...

's " Dance!" released in Spring 2006, just in time for the opening ceremonies for the World Cup. ;"All Together Now" Goleo VI also appears in

Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart K ...

's " All Together Now (Strong Together)", also released in the spring of 2006. The song was a remake of a song of 1990 by The Farm, called " All Together Now".

Goleo VI Discography

;Featured in

References

External links

FIFA's homepage

Financial problems with the manufacturer NICI
{{Authority control Mascots introduced in 2004 Lion mascots German mascots 2006 FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup mascots Fictional balls

Reception

Music appearances

Goleo VI Discography

See also

References

External links