The English football team have been sporting the new Giorgio Armani Red sunglasses on the eve of the World Cup in Germany and Paul McGuinness has been talking about why U2 believe in the beautiful game. "There's something wonderfully democratic about soccer."

Jamie Carragher, Sol Campbell and goalkeeper David James took a break from training with the England team to try on the Armani Red shades, one of a series of high-profile RED products which help raise funds to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa.

If you want to wear a pair yourself, here's where you get them.

Meanwhile, following U2's collaboration with a US TV network to promote the World Cup, manager Paul McGuinness has been talking to the New York Times about why the invitation intrigued the band.

"There's something wonderfully democratic about soccer," he explained. "It's the cheapest game in the world. All you need is a ball, and boys and girls can play it. Not that we're zealots, but we feel that soccer is a good thing, so our association with it is a good one."

He said that during a flight from Los Angeles to Mexico on the Vertigo Tour earlier in the year, Bono was so excited he grabbed the scripts for the promotional spots and acted them out for Edge, Adam and Larry.

U2's songs, live performance and voiceovers are all part of the 'One Game Changes Everything' campaign. In one a montage of children playing soccer around the world is set to "City of Blinding Lights." A second, about absenteeism during World Cup games, is punctuated by "Beautiful Day."

A third, about the Ivory Coast qualifying for the finals for the first time, is set to the music of "Where the Streets Have No Name."

McGuinness said the Ivory Coast spot "hit the nail on the head" for the band, "and resonated immediately." In it, visions of feuding factions in the country's war give way to a crowd of well-wishers cheering for their team as it prepared to board the flight to Germany for the World Cup.

"After three years of civil war, feuding factions talked for the first time in years," Bono says in his voice-over, "and the president called a truce because the Ivory Coast qualified for its first-ever World Cup."

Watch the clips for yourself
here