Harare — THE World Cup Trophy tour's roadshow kicked off on Wednesday in Harare as part of efforts by Coca Cola to raise the awareness levels of the public ahead of the arrival of the trophy in Harare next week.

The 6.175 grammes of solid gold is expected to be in Harare on Thursday at around 7:30pm aboard a special chartered plane.

Its visit to Zimbabwe is part of the build up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup set for South Africa.

With a week to go, Zimbabwe is already bracing itself for the coming of the trophy.

Already Coca-Cola had been running in-store promotions for its products with winners getting tickets for the VIP concert at the Harare International Conference Centre on Friday. There was a briefing on Wednesday at the HICC before the Coca-Cola team went to Graniteside, the company's main local plant. A command centre for the World Cup Trophy visit has been set up at the HICC.

From Graniteside, the show moved to Coventry Road and then Machipisa Shopping Centre in Highfield and finally Makomva Shopping Centre in Glen View.

There was a big crowd in Machipisa and Glen View on Wednesday. Nyasha Dhliwayo, a member of the company doing promotional work for Coca-Cola, said he was pleased with the first day of the roadshow.

"Over the next days our teams will be moving around. The launch of the roadshow today was a great success, especially at Machipisa and Glen View," said Dhliwayo.

"The response was great. Prizes ranged from T-shirts, caps and tickets. Some lucky winners also walked away with vuvuzelas. "The main idea is to raise awareness on the coming of the World Cup to Zimbabwe next week.

"Generally we are selling the products, giving away tickets and there are other games and competitions.

"This is a platform for interaction," he said.

Dhliwayo said they will be moving mostly to shopping centres and other areas in the high-density suburbs.

"We are targeting places mainly in the high density suburbs because that is where the majority of the soccer loving fans come from or are concentrated."

Warriors' cheerleader and Dynamos fan Chris Musekiwa is among the supporters who have been selected to drum up support for the coming of the World Cup Trophy to Zimbabwe.

Yesterday, the roadshow was in Kuwadzana and is expected to be at Dzivaresekwa 2 High School today whose team won the 2009 Nash/Coca Cola High School Soccer Tournament.

DZ High 2 headmaster Samuel Mahomva said his school felt honoured to host the road show.

"As the Copa/Coca-Cola champions, we feel proud to host the road show. Coca-Cola are also using this World Cup Trophy tour to present certificates to our winning team.

"Our team is also part of the World Cup Trophy tour on November 26 when the cup comes to Harare," said Mahomva. When the trophy comes to Harare next week, only President Mugabe will be allowed to handle it.