In the 1998 World Cup, it was the turn of Nike's main rival to have its failures embarrassingly highlighted: this time, it was " the Curse of Adidas: Even Zidane has joined the flops".

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Mr. SETH STEVENSON (Ad Critic, Slate Magazine): The 2006 World Cup kicks off on June 9, and Nike and Adidas are already girding themselves for a marketing battle.

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Nike also has a double whammy of an opportunity in Brazil, with the coming World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

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Nike will be able to capitalize on its strength in soccer during the 2014 Fifa World Cup, and then target audiences across a variety of sports during the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

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During last year's World Cup campaign, hundreds of articles and blogs gleefully pointed out how the stars of Nike's epic "Write the Future" commercial had fallen by the wayside.

BBC: England cricket team: The sponsorship gamble

Though Nike recently warned investors that it would miss fourth quarter estimates, the company says the World Cup has already been a boon to sales, with soccer-related revenue up 39% in the last three months.

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Still, Nike will probably engage in a heavy marketing campaign over the summer given the coming Olympics and Euro Cup.

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The New York Times this past weekend included an article describing the World Cup soccer jerseys as an example of a green product that is not from a green company (Nike).

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