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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Pablo Iglesias Maurer

Move over Soccerey Bally: how Striker the dog became a 1994 World Cup hero

Striker World Cup Soccer Warner Brothers Alan Rothenberg Steven Spielberg US Soccer Willie
Composite of images of Striker, the 1994 World Cup mascot, including one with Pele
The ideas behind the 1994 World Cup mascot, Striker the dog Composite: Getty Images, John Over and Joey Banaszkiewicz

Deep within a dark warehouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina, there sits a severed head. Encased in plastic, perfectly preserved and seemingly begging to be reanimated, it belongs to an American soccer legend.

For a seismic summer 32 years ago, Striker the dog was more ubiquitous than any of World Cup 94’s players, plastered all over billboards, Coke cans, key chains, caps and hundreds of other items. Kids carried around Striker dolls. Grown men played Striker-themed pinball machines and Super Nintendo games and posed for photos with the pup in stadiums.

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