He's not lovin' it

It seemed like a dream come true for Louis Moffat when he won a competition to be a World Cup mascot.

He excitedly told his school friends that he would be walking out with David Beckham and the other England players during one of their opening matches in Germany.

But when the prize was handed over by organisers McDonald's, he found he had been teamed instead with the old enemy, Germany.

Louis, six, did his best to put a brave face on the disappointment.

"I would have liked an England game because I don't know any of the German players," he said.

"I have been telling everyone I would be mascot for England. I had been looking forward to meeting the team."

The youngster, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, was among 50,000 hopefuls who entered the fast food giant's prize draw.

There were 22 winners from around the world who will be mascots for a variety of games.

After being informed of his success, Louis was invited to meet England's 1966 hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst at a McDonald's restaurant last month. There he was given the impression that he would be an England mascot.

But now the youngster has been told he will be the German mascot for the tournament's opening game against Costa Rica in Munich on Friday.

'When the tickets arrived and it was for Germany his face fell'

Despite his disappointment, Louis got to meet Chelsea's new signing Michael Ballack and former Tottenham Hotspur striker Jurgen Klinsmann, now the German manager.

But the boy's father Simon, 44, said his son had believed he would lead out England in one of the group fixtures against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago or Sweden.

He said: "It's still a fantastic prize but I just think to promise a kid something like that then not go through with it is very unprofessional."

His mother Denise, 47, added: "When he met Geoff Hurst all the talk was about England and being a mascot for England.

"When the tickets arrived and it was for Germany his face fell."

McDonald's - one of the tournament's official sponsors - apologised for what was apparently a misunderstanding.