Schröder pins hopes on Cup win

GERMAN leader Gerhard Schröder is pinning hopes of an economic upturn on his country winning the World Cup on Sunday.

Showing support for Germany's national team is a vital political move for the Chancellor ahead of the general election in September, and he will be in the stadium at Yokohama for the match. Saving his skin - and the economy - are at stake.

'The result of a German win would be a positive boost in public opinion and consumer behaviour,' said Dieter Hundt, president of the German Employers' Associations. Hundt says the nation's all-star line-up provides important identification figures.

Since national teams that participate in the World Cup rely solely on native players, they could set a positive example for German industry in encouraging them to invest more in drafting new talent at home, says Hundt.

According to recently released figures, German industry is hiring more and more of its top managers from foreign countries.

Hundt, once a goalkeeper for a Swiss major league team, says he bases his opinions on historical precedents, since a World Cup victory has proved a potent stimulant to the German economy before.

When German soccer legend Fritz Walter and his team took home the trophy in 1954, a wave of enthusiasm took hold of a nation still struggling to rebuild from the ruins of war.

Winning the World Cup in 2002 could raise self-esteem and motivate Germans to excel in areas other than soccer, Hundt said. Such motivation is sorely needed, he explained, especially in the fields of education and economy.

Since it is not usual for national teams to sack their coaches after losing the tournament, a German victory could not only save coach Rudi Völler's job, it could keep the Chancellor from being benched after September's parliamentary elections.

'We are in fact thinking in that direction,' said a source in Schröder's Social Democratic Party, the SPD. 'But that's based more on dinner-table psychology than actual findings.'

Still, the general mood in society would improve, the source said, since voters would feel more content with the current situation. A study undertaken in 1998 by German media analysts Reimar Zeh and Lutz Hagen after Germany's defeat in the tournament, shortly to be followed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl's defeat in the general election, evaluated the effects of television news on popular attitudes towards candidates. Zeh and Hagen concluded nonpolitical issues like sports 'can have a decisive impact on voters' decisions.'

'We found that something like the ' general mood' actually exists and that top-events like a soccer world championship have an influence on it,' said Hagen.

He and his colleague observed what they call a 'halo-effect', where pleasant events from one walk of life 'radiate' their emotional energy into others, even if they are as seemingly far apart as soccer and politics.