On 22 September 2008, the official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ was unveiled.

Zakumi is a leopard with green hair, wearing colours which reflect those of the tournament hosts' playing strip - yellow and green. His name comes from ZA, the international abbreviation for South Africa, and 'kumi', a word which means 'ten' in various African languages.

Zakumi's official motto is: 'Zakumi's game is Fair Play'. Andries Odendaal, from Cape Town, created the design of the original character.

Christoph Spycher today pulled out of Switzerland's provisional FIFA World Cup™ squad after failing to overcome a knee injury.

Spycher, 32, damaged ligaments in his left knee playing for Eintracht Frankfurt against Borussia Monchengladbach last month and has admitted defeat in his bid to be fit for South Africa. Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has called up Ludovic Magnin as his replacement.

Spycher told the Swiss federation's official website: "It is not clear at this moment when I can start training fully again. So after consultation with the doctors and physios I had no other choice but to inform the coach that he must plan without me."

Spycher, who will join Young Boys over the summer, said his international career was probably over after 47 caps. "I have taken this decision after careful consideration. I have had a great time with the national team but that's over now. I can now concentrate fully on Young Boys."

FIFA.com is giving Club members the chance to win a trip to South Africa, watch a 2010 FIFA World Cup™ match and, once the final whistle blows, handover a trophy to the Budweiser Man of the Match.

All that you have to do to stand a chance of winning the Grand Prize is visit the ‘Budweiser Man of the Match Contest’ link to the right of this article and tell the FIFA.com Community why you should be the fan to fly to South Africa and present a Budweiser Man of the Match Trophy at the 2010 FIFA World Cup?

You have until 22 May, 00:00 GMT to submit your best, most creative and most convincing ‘why I should win’ comment. Once the competition closes, FIFA.com will choose a shortlist of the best comments and present them to FIFA.com Club members for final voting.

What are you waiting for? Write up your ‘why I should win’ comment and submit it now!

Australia backed star forward Harry Kewell to overcome his latest injury setback before next month's FIFA World Cup™ as coach Pim Verbeek named a 31-man provisional squad on Tuesday.

Verbeek said Kewell, included alongside Everton match-winner Tim Cahill and Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, will be ready for Australia's 13 June opener against three-time winners Germany despite fresh groin problems.

"Of course there are rumours, of course there are opinions, but Harry will be ready," Verbeek told an unveiling ceremony in Sydney. "Medical staff, everybody, Harry himself inform me that he will be okay. We still have five weeks to prepare him for the first game against Germany so don't worry about him, he will be there."

Verbeek gave a surprise call-up to 18-year-old Tommy Oar, who only made his international debut in March, as possible cover on the left wing for Kewell or Mark Bresciano, who is battling a back problem. Blackburn's Brett Emerton and Vince Grella were also named despite injury concerns, while Archie Thompson and Patrick Kisnorbo were among those ruled out by more serious problems. Verbeek included Adelaide United's Eugene Galekovic as a standby goalkeeper.

Fourteen of the squad were present when Australia reached the knockout stage at Germany 2006 before falling to eventual winners Italy through a late penalty.

Australia squad
Goalkeepers: Adam Federici (Reading/England), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide Utd), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough/England), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham/England),

Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Al-Jazira/United Arab Emirates), David Carney (FC Twente/Netherlands), Scott Chipperfield (Basel/Switzerland), Shane Lowry (Aston Villa/England), Mark Milligan (JEF United/Japan), Craig Moore (uncontracted), Lucas Neill (Galatasaray/Turkey), Jade North (Tromso/Norway), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow/Russia), Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough/England)

Midfielders: Mark Bresciano (Palermo/Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton/England), Nick Carle (Crystal Palace/England), Jason Culina (Gold Coast Utd), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers/England), Richard Garcia (Hull City/England), Vince Grella (Blackburn Rovers/England), James Holland (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), Mile Jedinak (Antalyaspor Kulubu/Turkey), Tommy Oar (FC Utrecht/Netherlands), Carl Valeri (Sassuolo/Italy), Dario Vidosic (Nuremberg/Germany),

Forwards: Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus/Japan), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray/Turkey), Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough/England), Nikita Rukavytsya (FC Twente/Netherlands)