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Canadian hip hop artist's song associated with World Cup tour

Last Updated: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 | 1:35 PM ET

By John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports

A remixed version of Wavin' Flag, a song by Somalia-born Canadian hip hop artist K'Naan, is the official song of a World Cup trophy tour currently traversing through Africa.

Wavin' Flag: The Celebration Mix is a remix of the original track off K'Naan's third album, Troubadour, released earlier this year.

K'Naan, currently on tour in Africa with the World Cup trophy, was born Keinan Abdi Warsame in Somalia in 1978 before moving to the U.S. and relocating to Toronto. His name, K'naan, means "traveller" in the Somali language.

This is not the first time a Canadian musician's song has been associated with soccer.

Forca, off Grammy Award winner Nelly Furtado's 2003 album Folklore, was selected the official song of Euro 2004, the European soccer championship.

Furtado, a Portuguese-Canadian raised in Victoria, B.C., performed the song prior to the tournament final in Lisbon.

Corrections and Clarifications

CBCSports.ca mistakenly reported that Wavin' Flag was named the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We regret the error. Dec. 1, 2009

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2010 FIFA World Cup Headlines

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Loew's future to be decided after World Cup: The German football federation and Joachim Loew have called a truce and agreed to decide the national team coach's future after the World Cup.
Ahn Jung-hwan on the rise again: Few who witnessed Ahn Jung-hwan's goal against Italy at the 2002 World Cup will forget his historic header or the uproar it caused as South Korea reached the quarter-finals.
Nigeria's firing of Amodu was inevitable: It was almost inevitable that the curse of the African Nations Cup came back to haunt Shaibu Amodu, who was fired as coach of Nigeria ahead of the World Cup.
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Tim Vickery: Francisco Varallo alive and kicking at 100: Argentina's Francisco Varallo turned 100 years old on Friday. Remarkably, he is the only surviving player from the inaugural FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930.
Terry replaced by Ferdinand as England captain: Rio Ferdinand has replaced John Terry as captain of England, the Chelsea defender paying the price for being embroiled in a sex scandal involving the ex-girlfriend of Wayne Bridge.
Canadian ref Vergara off to World Cup: Canadian Hector Vergara will be in South Africa after being named Friday to the World Cup's official list of tournament referees by FIFA, soccer's world governing body.
Doctor not ruling out Cabanas's return to soccer: A doctor treating Salvador Cabanas, the soccer player who was shot in the head in a Mexico city bar, has not ruled out the possibility the Paraguay striker will play again.