Great praise from football experts Hildebrand, Körbel and Reid for Continental's youth sponsoring

In February 2005 Continental has connected the product launch event for the new passenger car summer tire ContiPremiumContact 2 at Athens with a thrilling soccer event.

After the presentation of the new product including a half-day driving appraisal on cars like Audi A 6, Jaguar XJ, Mercedes-Benz SLK and BMW Mini Cooper the evening programme on Februar 9th, 2005 contained the visit of the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM qualification game in the beautiful Kariskaiki-Stadion at Piräus between the European Champion Greece, whos coach is the very succesful German Otto Rehhagel, and the European Champion of 1992 - Denmark - whos coach is the former Bundesliga player Morten Olsen. This game was the match of the day in the European qualification round.

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Professional footballer Timo Hildebrand, a member of the current pool of German national team players, also joined the discussions live from Stuttgart via video conference link. The 160 journalists, who had arrived from 18 European countries for the presentation of the new summer tyre ContiPremiumContact 2 in Athens, listened keenly to the opinions of the four experts on what was happening in the world of football.

VfB Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had forgone a visit to the international match between Germany and Argentina in Düsseldorf taking place that same evening to take part in the discussions. Hildebrand, Continental's brand ambassador, first highlighted the newfound confidence of the German national team.

"The mood has become very upbeat with our new coach Jürgen Klinsmann. His optimism has given the team new drive" according to Hildebrand, who is the substitute for world class goalkeepers Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, and is already seen as the future German No. 1 after the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany^TM. The national team is however only the tip of the performance pyramid, whilst the foundations for sporting success are laid in the work carried out with up-and-coming youngsters, Hildebrand explained. "Continental's focus on encouraging youngsters and teenagers to take part in football is exemplary" commented the goalkeeper, who himself regularly offers his services for these activities.

A team of experienced coaches and professionals like Hildebrand constantly passes on tips and tricks to them, ensuring the youngsters remain highly motivated. "Without the support from Continental, our work would be inconceivable. We could not imagine a better partner" said Körbel. In addition to the football school, Charly Körbel has also set up a football academy, which specifically encourages exceptional talent and is also supported by Continental.

What Peter Reid and the head of the football school have in common is not just their involvement in international matches - both also won a European cup: Reid won the European Cup Winners' Cup with Everton and Körbel took home the UEFA Cup with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Moreover, both have extensive experience as coaches and Peter Reid is also well aware of the importance of encouraging talent. Reid, whose last job was team manager for Leeds United in the Premier League, explained: "Training is crucial. We have numerous stars in England, but we also have lots of talent. As a result, we're very optimistic about qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM."

Assessing the exciting initial position, Charly Körbel explained that if the Greeks were to lose, that would mean that as current European champions they would more or less have missed the boat for the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM.

The match was a sell-out and 33,000 spectators in the stadium saw the Greeks win 2-1. With their second victory in the fifth qualifying match, the host country had managed to substantially reinvigorate its chance of taking part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM. In the first half the Greek team, which is coached by German trainer Otto Rehhagel, put up a performance that was strongly reminiscent of the convincing success at Euro 2004 in Portugal. The 1992 European champions dominated in the second half, though. Luckily, the Greeks survived many dangerous situations. Football expert Peter Reid was right when he predicted that the game would be exciting, with the initial offensive coming from the southern Europeans, whilst the Scandinavians would put up a superior performance in the final stage of the match. And an hour before the kick-off, Charly Körbel had even predicted the exact score.

For further information: www.ContiSoccerWorld.com