Mascots for Euro 2008 soccer unveiled

The twin mascot for the Euro 2008 football championship was unveiled at a media conference at the Museumsquartier here.

The twin mascot for the Euro 2008 football championship was unveiled at a media conference at the Museumsquartier.

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The lovely twins with number 20 and 08 were dressed in red and white football strips, symbolising the national colours of the joint hosts, Austria and Switzerland.

It is for the first time that Euro 2008 chosen more than one mascot.

"Mascots know no borders. Neither mascot represents one of the countries, but both represent our united qualities," Friedrich Stickler, Austrian Football Association president said at the conference Wednesday.

Said Lars-Christer Olsson, chief executive of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA): "The twins will carry the energetic spirit of the event and it is vital that the fans and particularly the younger ones like them."

At the conference, Bruno Schwobthaler, vice-president of Warner Bros. Consumer Products, who designed and created the mascots said it had taken 4,000 man-hours to develop 100 different figures from which the two mascots were finally selected.

He said that the two mascots, with the number 20 and 08, are different with unique characters and tempers.

"They indicate the teamwork, which is also our best wishes for the football players at the Euro 2008," Stickler added.

After the media conference, the two mascots got into a horse-drawn carriage and set off for Stephansplatz. From there, an eight-carriage escort of 32 children accompanied the mascots back to the Museumsquartier.

The football fans of the host nations will decide the names of the mascots by a vote between Sep 27 - Oct 8.