Football and the Kids

Teddy,
Why before each game do they pair up world cup soccer players with young children? Are they the prize for victory?

Shithead,
You have to go back to the origins of the game. England way back before they split with the catholic church. Then it moves over to the main continent (Italy, Portugal, Spain)...All Catholics. The little boys are gifts to the players for performing. The Pope that instituted this was Pope Concilious the Second, who was a famous child lover. He never went anywhere without his flock of children. He became a huge fan of the game, and as a reward to the best players, he would give them each a child. Of course, this was just a ceremony, and the player would return the child to the Pope at the end of the game. Pope Concilious loved to take the kids back to the priory and share his special candle with them.
I'm just glad to see the priests of today are keeping with tradition.