A puppet lion designed with the help of the Jim Henson Company and going by the name of Goleo VI will be the official mascot of the 2006 Football World Cup.

Goleo made his television debut in Germany on Saturday, alongside Franz Beckenbauer, the president of the World Cup organising committee, and Brazilian soccer great Pele.

FIFA boast that Goleo -- the name is an abbreviation of "Go, Leo, go!" -- can talk, dance, play music and make people laugh.

He is accompanied by Pille, a talking football with an encyclopedic knowledge of the game.