BEWARE the curse of Adidas. The sportswear giant has found that World Cup stars appearing in its multi-million-pound advertisements have so far failed in their quest for glory.

The manufacturer has spent more than ?20m on a publicity campaign of moody black and white posters and television advertisements that turn five of the world's most talented footballers into icons. But the players, who include Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham as well as the French star Zinedine Zidane, have either not been picked to play for their countries or have been sent off the field for dirty play.

The German company's first mistake was hiring Gascoigne, the flawed but popular midfield player who has commanded a place in the England squad for more than 10 years.

Adidas released a poster of him captioned The Magician; he promptly lived up to his billing by disappearing from England's team sheet.

Beckham, the 23-year-old Manchester United star made even more famous by his impending marriage to one of the Spice Girls, had played in every qualifying and warm-up game for England and seemed a certainty to play in the World Cup. But he was not chosen for England's match last week against Tunisia.

The good news for the two England players is that the curse knows no national boundaries. Zidane, the French midfielder, one of the most talented players in the competition, was given a red card for stamping on a Saudi Arabian player last week and faces at least a one-match suspension.

Patrick Kluivert, the Dutch striker famed for spectacular goals and another Adidas player, was handed a red card in Holland's first World Cup match for elbowing a Belgian player in the stomach. And Italy's Alessandro Del Piero, named as his country's best striker last season and the star of an Adidas television advertisement, has not yet started a World Cup match.

Why have they flopped so badly? Adidas has nervously laughed off any suggestion that the brand is jinxed. "We are sure that at least one of these players will have a significant impact on the tournament," said a source.

But history shows that a similar curse once haunted Nike, Adidas's arch rival in sportswear, which took six years to shake off. Two years ago it used its tick logo and the face of Eric Cantona, the French star, to herald the threat of France in the European championships. Cantona was not chosen to play.

The now-legendary curse of Nike first struck at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when Sergei Bubka, the Ukrainian pole-vaulter, was chosen to front the firm's advertising campaign. He did not win a medal and had the worst series of jumps in his career.

England fans should watch carefully during the rest of the tournament for any signs that the Adidas curse has spread. Last week the company was reportedly considering a ?1m approach to Darren Anderton, Beckham's replacement. Sunday Times, Father's Day