Star-studded TV commercial to lift spirit of England football team

London, May 16 (ANI): A galaxy of former England Sports stars would be seen supporting the national football team in a television commercial to fulfil the dream of thousands of people by lifting the football World Cup in South Africa.

The Carlsberg television advertisement, which has already become one of the most hit video on YouTube, features football greats such as Sir Jack Charlton and Sir Trevor Brooking.

The glittery list of sports legend featuring in the commercial includes names like former cricket captain Sir Ian Botham, Olympic double gold medal winning athlete Dame Kelly Holmes, former boxing champion Nigel Benn, Olympic rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave, four-times World superbike champion Carl Fogarty besides other.

The video, which cost a million pound to make, shows late Bobby Moore waiting to lead the team on to the field, and Botham, clad in chain mail, shaking his fist and a voice emerges in the background which says: "It's time to join the immortals."

The 90-second video, which is the brainchild of Saatchi and Saatchi's creative director Paul Siburn, was shot over three days at Millwall Football Club's ground in south-east London.

Siburn revealed that he got the theme of the advertisement from a scene from Shakespeare's play Henry V.

"We were aiming for something epic and Shakespearean but we didn't want to lose the common touch by actually quoting from the speech.Our copywriters came up with something stirring and memorable. We didn't just want to advertise Carlsberg, we also wanted to stir the blood for battle," The Daily Express quoted Siburn, as saying.

"We wanted to let the team know the nation is behind them and it was an absolute privilege to be involved in it," the 50-year old ad-film maker added. (ANI)