• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 14, 2010

ESPN again has turned to U2 as the soundtrack for its World Cup promotional campaign. Spots have been running with the Dublin band's music for some time, but now ESPN says four new spots with four hits will back the event that kicks off in June. Ireland failed to qualify.

ESPN's description of the ads:

--ROBBEN ISLAND communicates the historic nature and importance of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, through the prism of soccer. This spot was filmed on location at Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. It is the site where eventual South African President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, alongside other political prisoners, during the country’s apartheid era. (Set to U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name� with Soweto Gospel Choir).

--UNITED conveys the passion for the FIFA World Cup that unites disparate cultures (set to U2’s “Magnificent�).

--THE POWER OF 10 celebrates the honor and burden that comes with wearing the most sacred jersey number in soccer (set to U2’s “Out of Control�).

--PASSION captures the excitement that the FIFA World Cup invokes — highlighting the documented “baby boom� that occurred nine months after Germany hosted the 2006 event (set to U2’s “Desire�).

During the Cup, music from U2 and South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir will be integrated into the coverage.