Nike’s best football commercial of all time celebrates its 20th birthday! What are all the participants in the secret tournament doing?

On April 4, 2002, Nike launched its global campaign for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan. It was not only the football world that saw the impressive advert, which became a hit on TV stations around the world.

Directed by Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, the advert was set on a boat where a secret tournament was played inside a huge cage with a pitch and two mini-goals.

The idea of the tournament is simple, without all the fans and cameras, 24 elite players organize a secret tournament with eight teams and only one rule.

Eric Cantona watched the games from the top of the metal structure and was the referee. His role was to throw the ball into the cage to get the game started.

The eight participating teams

Triple Espresso: Francesco Totti, Hidetoshi Nakata, Thierry Henry.

The Onetouchables: Patrick Vieira, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Paul Scholes.

Cerberus:: Edgar Davids, Lillian Thuram, Sylvain Wiltord.

Toros Locos: Javier Saviola, Luis Enrique, Freddie Ljungberg.

Os Tornados:: Ronaldo Nazário, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos.

Funk Seoul Brothers:: Denílson, Seol Ki-hyeon, Ronaldinho.

Equipo Del Fuego:: Hernán Crespo, Claudio López, Gaizka Mendieta.

Tutto Bene: Fabio Cannavaro, Rio Ferdinand, Tomas Rosicky.

How did the tournament develop?

Quarterfinals::

Triple Espresso vs. The Onetouchables:: Scorer Totti.

Cerberus vs. Toros Locos:: Shooter Wiltord.

Equipo del Fuego vs. Tutto Bene:: Shooter Mendieta.

Os Tornados vs. Funk Seoul Brothers:: Shooter Roberto Carlos.

Semifinals

Triple Espresso vs Cerberus:: Shooter Nakata.

Os Tornados vs Equipo del Fuego:: Shooter Figo.

Final

Triple Espresso vs Os Tornados:: Shooter Henry

What are all 24 participants doing now?

Triple Espresso

Thierry Henry:: After retiring from football, he coached Monaco and the MLS team Montreal Impact. He is currently an assistant to Robert Martínez with the Belgian national team and also one of the most popular TV experts in England and France.

Francesco Totti:: He retired from an active career in 2017 to become a director at Roma, but resigned two years later in an explosive press conference in which he accused club owner James Pallotta of his departure.

Hidetoshi Nakata:: He hung up his cleats in 2006 after a loan spell at Bolton. Since then he has worked as a model and has his own brand of sake, a Japanese drink.

The Onetouchables

Patrick Vieira:: He is currently the head coach of Crystal Palace after stints at Nice and New York City FC.

Ruud van Nistelrooy:: He retired as a player at Málaga and recently signed a three-year contract with PSV Eindhoven, where he will be head coach from next season.

Paul Scholes:: He has tried his luck as a coach and is currently working as a TV expert in the UK.

Cerberus

Sylvain Wiltord:: After his retirement, he took part in a reality show on French TV that put the former sportsman in extreme survival situations.

Edgar Davids:: After retiring as a professional, he performed in the lower leagues of English football and tried coaching several teams without much success.

Lilian Thuram:: He is a writer and also the founder of the “Lilian Thuram Foundation”, which fights against racism. He is a prominent activist in France.

Toros Locos

Javier Saviola:: He retired from professional football at River Plate, but has not given up on the round nonsense. Saviola went on to play futsal at Encamp in Andorra.

Luis Enrique:: He embarked on a career as a football manager and has been successful. He is currently the head coach of Spain after stints at Celta Vigo, Roma and Barcelona.

Freddie Ljungberg:: Played four matches for Indian side Mumbai City before retiring. He was an interim coach at Arsenal and also continued his modelling career.

Os Tornados

Luís Figo:: He regularly appears in Real Madrid’s veteran matches and also appears at FIFA events. He has even gone so far as to propose his candidacy for FIFA president.

Ronaldo Nazário:: Currently owner of Real Valladolid and Cruzeira, ambassador of Real Madrid and a world football legend active in many business sectors related to sport in general.

Roberto Carlos:: Currently working with Real Madrid’s academy, the Brazilian legend previously coached Anzhi Makhachkala, Sivasspor, Akhisarspor and Delhi Dynamos.

Funk Soul Brothers

Denílson:: He came out of retirement a few days ago to sign for lower Brazilian team Ibis Sport Club after 12 years. He has also worked as a sports commentator in Brazil.

Seol Ki-hyeon:: After a long career in Europe, he retired from South Korea’s Incheon United. He is now the coach of Korean team Gyeongnam.

Ronaldinho:: His life off the pitch has been controversial and he even spent several months in jail in Paraguay because of a forged passport. The sad story of one of football’s greatest legends.

Equipo del Fuego

Hernán Crespo:: Played until 2012 before becoming a coach. He was appointed coach of Qatar’s Al-Duhail after having been in charge of Modena, Banfield, Defensa y Justicia and Sao Paulo.

Claudio López:: The Valencia legend retired in 2010 after an adventure in the MLS. He also tried his luck in rallying.

Gaizka Mendieta:: After his career ended, he became a television pundit, international ambassador for LaLiga and DJ.

Tutto Bene

Tomas Rosicky:: Few people probably remember that the Czech football legend also took part in a secret tournament. We don’t need to introduce Tomáš too much, he is still connected with Sparta Prague, where he is the sporting director.

Fabio Cannavaro:: The 2006 Ballon d’Or winner joined Real Madrid and then returned to Juventus before leaving for Al-Ahli. He has had a long coaching career in Asia and even became the coach of China for two matches.

Rio Ferdinand:: He has become one of the most popular TV pundits in the UK and also has his own YouTube channel.

Tournament link

Due to the success of the campaign, Nike has organised several similar youth tournaments with the same rules around the world. Nike executives at the time considered the ad to be the best global campaign in the organisation’s history.

Source: Marca, Wikipedia