There are many curses that afflict teams and sports - the Curse of the Bambino (baseball), the Curse of Gillette (Federer ,Woods, Henry), the Curse of the Socceroos Witch Doctor (1974 World Cup) - but another one can now be added to the list; the Nike Curse.
Nike released an
advertisement on the eve of the World Cup with the theme Write the Future.
The main protagonists involved, however, have already exited the World Cup in shame - Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Franck Ribery.
If that wasn't bad enough, the ad also featured Ronaldinho, who didn't even make Brazil's 23-man squad.
Holiday madness
The British red tops have pounced on any English player who had the temerity to get on with life after their dismal exit from the World Cup.
Images of Frank Lampard in Sardinia with his girlfriend, Rob Green heading to LA, Steven Gerrard's missus getting her hair done as she prepared to go on holiday and players smiling and smoking cigars have not gone down well in a country looking for answers - and apologies.
What was off target, though, much like Wayne Rooney's World Cup, was the striker booking a holiday in Barbados two days before their 4-1
second round loss to Germany.
The odd couple
Diego Maradona is a member of the Jose Mourinho fan club.
"I like him a lot," Maradona gushed last week.
"The way he received me when we met was amazing. We spent hours talking. He's a guy you can take to your bedside table and ask
him something when you need it. I have his phone number. I may call him."
It's not yet sure what he will call him but Mourinho has already anointed himself as The Special One.
Who's your daddy?
Landon Donovan appears to have some other business to attend to after it emerged a British woman is pregnant with his child.
The 28-year-old American playmaker spent a loan spell with Everton in the English Premier League last season and reports suggest the un-named woman is about to tell her story.
She met top UK publicist Max Clifford to work out her next move but that normally means shelling out a few quid.
It's not sure what these revelations will mean for Donovan's hopes of getting back with wife, actress Bianca Kajlich whos tars in Rules of Engagement.
The pair seemed on the verge of reconciliation when rumours about the love child broke but she is said to have not been surprised by the news.
Donovan is prepared to accept he could be the father and told Sports
Illustrated last week: "I was informed of the possibility during the
World Cup and if I need to take responsibility, then I will provide the
appropriate support."
Good week for: Paris Hilton
The heiress and party girl - sometimes known as a model, singer, songwriter, author, fashion designer and actress of varying ability - almost saw her World Cup go up in smoke when she was detained for possession of marijuana yesterday.
Hilton was arrested after police smelled dagga, as it's knownin South Africa, outside the stadium after yesterday's quarterfinal between Brazil and the Netherlands in Port Elizabeth.
She appeared in a Fifa court but charges were dropped.
Hilton's publicist Dawn Miller said it "was a complete misunderstanding, and it was actually another person in the group who did it", presumably as Shaggy's ditty It Wasn't Me played in the background.
Friend Jennifer Rovero was instead convicted of possession and handed a R1000 ($188) fine or 30 days in jail.
It's not Hilton's first brush with the law. In 2007, she was convicted of drink driving and spent 23 days in jail, which prompted her to tell Larry King that the experience helped her re-evaluate how much she partied.
It seems this time she was just high on life.
Bad week for: Christian Ronaldo
The less toothy Ronaldo has a reputation for getting emotional when it all goes pear-shaped and he turned on the waterworks again after Portugal's limp exit from the World Cup.
Ronaldo admitted to feeling "disconsolate, frustrated and an unimaginable sadness" after the 1-0 defeat to Spain and felt he had the "right to suffer alone".
Portugal's media disagreed and launched a withering attack on the country's captain who spent most of the World Cup pouting rather than
performing.
There are many curses that afflict teams and sports - the Curse of the Bambino (baseball), the Curse of Gillette (Federer ,Woods, Henry), the Curse of the Socceroos Witch Doctor (1974 World Cup) - but another one can now be added to the list; the Nike Curse.
Nike released an
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