Annan says this year’s World Cup gives hope to underdogs

This year’s World Cup is giving hope to underdogs everywhere, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

“It’s been an incredible World Cup, because all the favourites seem to have been knocked out, or most of them,” Mr. Annan said when asked by a reporter in New York about the international football tournament. “And so you cannot take anything for granted.”

The Secretary-General said he would not bet on who would win, but added that the competition had been inspiring. “It is a World Cup of the underdogs, it seems to me, so there is hope for all of us underdogs.”

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is supporting the UN this year in a variety of ways, including by donating the proceeds of an online auction of soccer memorabilia to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).