FEW footballers get within touching distance of the World Cup trophy. Even hat-trick-scoring legends such as Sir Geoff Hurst are allowed only to hold one of the official replicas for promotional work with sponsors.

But in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, Wayne Rooney will be introduced to the real McCoy as part of a roadshow in which the famous trophy will tour the world before arriving in Berlin for the start of the tournament.

Based on the idea of the Olympic torch relay, the World Cup will visit 180 countries before next summer. In the UK, the plan is to bring the world’s most coveted trophy together with Rooney as part of the Manchester United and England striker’s sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola. The Real Thing meets The Real Thing is the catchy PR line.

England fans will only hope it is not the last time the 20-year-old, identified this week by Hurst as the key to his team’s success, gets near the original trophy, which is kept locked in Fifa’s vaults in Zurich.

David Beckham could be the ninth captain to lift the 6.175kg, 18-carat solid gold trophy depicting two human figures holding up the Earth but the FA would not get to keep it as national FAs are given replicas.

The original Jules Rimet trophy, named after the president of Fifa from 1921-54, was given to Brazil permanently to mark their third victory in 1970 but was subsequently stolen and probably melted down.

Even the replicas are deemed valuable: one fetched £254,000 in a Sotheby’s auction in 1997.

THE England cricket team were hardly in a joyous mood yesterday after losing the first Test to Pakistan by 22 runs, so it is not surprising that media executives haranguing the players to record a charity Christmas version of Jerusalem were given short shrift.

The producers still hoped to film the team before the second Test in Faisalabad, starting on Sunday, despite being told not to bother flying out because Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff et al had other priorities and had done plenty of work for the Pakistan Earthquake Fund and Save the Children.

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