English football fans had every right to feel gloomy on Wednesday after England's hopes of qualifying for the European football championships were fast fading after a dramatic defeat against Russia.
They were not the only crowd feeling blue. Shareholders in Umbro also had reason to feel a little down as the prospect of flogging millions of England shirts in the 2008 European tournament slipped away.
It was an event that should have sent Umbro's share price lower, but news that Nike was waiting in the wings to buy the replica kit manufacturer sent the shares soaring - in spite of the short-term disappointment of the England loss.
Nike's possible approach to Umbro is the latest salvo in the US sportswear group's journey to become the leading global football brand by the South African World Cup in 2010.
Nike first crystallised that vision at the beginning of the 1990s when it began investing heavily in football.
"Soccer fever", traditionally the preserve of nations across Europe and Latin America, hit the US forcibly when it hosted the World Cup for the first time in 1994. And, while football has never gained the stature of home-grown games in the hearts of Americans, Nike seems determined to become the leading global brand in football.
It now seems to have set its sights on the England contract. The white shirt remains the most popular in the world and Umbro owns the branding rights to attach that logo to the shirt until 2014.
Acquiring Umbro would put Nike in pole position to grasp the ultimate prize - global leadership in football shirt manufacturing. One analyst estimated that Adidas's global market share is 35 per cent, Nike's 30 per cent and Umbro about 5 per cent. "They would come very close to becoming number one," admits an Adidas executive. Meanwhile, competitors are piling into the Umbro stock, with JJB Sports buying up a 10 per cent stake yesterday. Mike Ashley's Sports Direct also owns 15 per cent of Umbro.
This could muddy the water for Nike - although JJB made it clear yesterday that they thought Nike was a good brand to tie-up with the England kit.
