David Beckham the Show Stealer
England 2018's increasing reliance on David Beckham as the figurehead of their World Cup campaign was underlined when their star turn stole the show at a media fair for all 10 bidding countries on Friday.
Beckham's arrival at the event dominated the media attention and made up for any disappointment felt by England 2018 leaders to the muted reaction to their underwhelming promotional video.
When it comes to sprinkling stardust on a campaign, no one does it better than Beckham and he even managed to put his former Real Madrid team-mate Luis Figo - the celebrity face of the rival bid by Spain and Portugal - in the shade.
The 34-year-old Beckham spent the best part of an hour pushing England's message, having earlier met UEFA president Michel Platini and African confederation president Issa Hayatou as part of his Cape Town charm offensive.
Beckham admitted to being "star-struck" by the legendary Frenchman - he had presented both FIFA executive committee members with a signed England shirt but asked Platini to autograph a France shirt for him in return.
Beckham said: "I was quite star-struck by meeting Michel Platini today - he's a hero of so many people. Everyone has watched him play on TV and my dad was a huge fan of the way he played.
"Just to sit down and have a coffee with him this morning was special."
Beckham also warned that England could not afford to be complacent about their campaign.
He added: "Everything has been so positive, it's just about keeping it going and not being arrogant."
The event at Leeuwenhof, a fabulously-situated Government mansion on the lower slopes of Table Mountain had all 10 bidders showing a four-minute video presentation to the assembled international media.
Australia's video, presented by Nicole Kidman, received the biggest plaudits as the Hollywood star promised the 'No Worries' World Cup if the tournament goes Down Under.
Qatar's also struck the right note - and was made by the British production company New Moon who put together the hugely-successful video for London 2012.
Korea's video was proficient, Russia's straightforward but unsophisticated, Spain's a mere tourist film, Japan's uninformative and Indonesia's colourful but not credible.
England's video did not contain a single moving image - it relied solely on graphics to pump information to the watchers.
Only the amateur production by Holland/Belgium beat England's to the wooden spoon.
The USA had gone for an innovative approach with their plans being detailed in the form of a sports TV show - only for it to be interrupted right in the middle by the arrival of Figo and Fernando Hierro, with dozens of media abandoning the video presentation.
The USA were infuriated. "It was totally ruined," said MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "I think there's an element of fair-play in our sport. That was bad form."
The Spain/Portugal bid later apologised - but England 2018 said they had made sure the arrival of Beckham and Fabio Capello was carefully-timed to avoid any such embarrassment.
England 2018's chief operating officer Simon Johnson said: "We timed the arrival of our two ambassadors so they arrived after the completion of all the videos - we think that is only courteous."
Figo was soon almost a lone figure after Beckham's arrival and is looking forward to locking horns with him on a political front.
"For 2018? I obviously hope I beat him," said Figo.
Australia relied on their impressive sports minister Kate Ellis, who pushed the message that it was time to bring the World Cup to another new territory.
"This really comes down to the case you put forward and how committed you are to staging a successful event, and we are really committed."
Russia's secret weapon is Vitaly Mutko, who combines being sports minister and bid chairman with a seat on FIFA's executive committee.
Mutko said: "We have great respect for England, the home of football with excellent infrastructure but we are confident our bid is very strong.
"Our message is about legacy and developing football."
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