Clutch is an eagle, wears the blue jersey of the US national team and symbolizes courage, leadership and unity, acting as a midfielder.
Zayu is a jaguar, wears the traditional green color of the Mexican species and plays in attack. It is inspired by the importance of that animal to ancient civilizations and symbolizes strength, agility and cultural pride. Maple is a moose, appears in red and represents creativity and resilience. He is a goalkeeper and is inspired by the maple leaf, the national symbol of Canada.
“Maple represents Canada, Zaya represents Mexico, and Clutch represents the United States of America. They reflect the culture, heritage and spirit of their countries. Together, they symbolize unity, diversity and the love of soccer,” said FIFA.
The practice of presenting mascots at the World Championships began in 1966 in England, when Willie the Lion was introduced. From 1970 to 1978, the mascots of the World Cup were boys – four of them. In Mexico, the mascot was the boy Juanito, recognizable by the large sombrero on his head. Four years later, in Germany, the mascots were boys Tip and Tap. One had the inscription WM for the World Cup on the jersey, and the other in 1974.
The last human character on the World Cup mascots was Gauchito in Argentina in 1978. Dressed in the jersey of the Argentine national team, Gauchito had a scarf around his neck and a whip in his right hand like real South American cowboys, reports Hina.
In Spain in 1982, the mascot was a Naranjito (orange), a typical Spanish fruit. Four years later in Mexico, the mascot was the hot pepper Pique, who wears a mustache and a sombrero. In Italy in 1990, a completely new approach to mascots appeared. Ciao was made up of geometric figures in the shape of football players and in the colors of the Italian flag, and instead of a head it had a ball.
The 1994 World Cup in the United States was marked by Striker the dog, the most common pet in the USA, who wore a shirt in the colors of the American flag with the words “USA 94”. France decided on a rooster mascot, one of its symbols. Footix was blue in color, like the French jerseys, and the name was derived from the word “football” and the suffix “-ix” from the popular Asterix comic strip.
Futuristic mascots Ato (coach), Nick (blue player) and Kaz (purple player) “descended” from Atmozone to our planet to be the official mascots of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002. The characters were created by computer animation and no one was completely clear about what they symbolized.
In 2006, the Germans decided on the atypical lion Gole and the talking ball, Pille. The lion mascot caused a lot of controversy because it did not have pants and because of the fact that this animal is more associated with England and the Netherlands than with Germany. NCIC, which licensed Gole, declared bankruptcy in May 2006.
Zakumi the leopard was the official mascot of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. For the World Cup in Brazil, the mascot was the shepherd Fuleco, a mammal that is an endangered Brazilian endemic species. In Russia 2018, we saw Zabivaka, a wolf sporting glasses and a jersey in the colors of the Russian flag, and at the last World Cup, the mascot was La’eeb, a super-skilled player in the shape of a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by men in parts of the Middle East.
(Vijesti.ba)
