Friday, May 31, 2002
Friday, May 31, 2002 |
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Football
``We are eager for Friday to come so we can get to the heart of the matter,'' French midfielder Patrick Vieira said. ``The waiting is starting to become a drag.'' During the lead up to the tournament, the French lost 1998 World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane to a thigh injury. The team doctor said he could be out for up to three games — one fewer than he missed in the 1998 finals after being sent off in his team's second match. The other 30 teams in soccer's world championship still had more time to worry about strategy, psychology and fitness. ``Everyone is afraid of us, but they are right to fear us. They will see on the pitch,'' said Can Cobanoglu, manager of Turkey's team, which opens on Monday against four-time champion Brazil. His evidence: An adviser to Brazil's coach was found observing a Turkish training session on Thursday, describing himself as a journalist. For Russia, there were political opponents as well as the ones on the field. At the hotel that will house the team next week, the leader of a Japanese right-wing group was charged with trespassing and demanding that the management turn the Russians away, a police spokesman said on Thursday. The group, demanding the return of Russian-held islands north of Japan, has threatened to carry on protests outside the hotel during the team's stay. In competition, Russia is in the same first-round group with Japan, Belgium and Tunisia. Meanwhile, Japan has sent FIFA a letter warning that delays in delivery of tickets from Britain had ``reached a critical level,'' and might lead to confusion at stadiums on match days. One delayed shipment, of about 150,000 tickets, arrived earlier this week, but Japan is still awaiting about 3,000 tickets for wheelchair seats. With or without Zidane, ``France is still a very good team,'' said defender Aliou Cisse of World Cup newcomer Senegal. ``We are sorry for Zidane's injury and we hope for his quick recovery.'' Senegal, which reached the final of this year's African Cup of Nations, ``is a competitive team,'' said its French coach, Bruno Metsu. ``African football players have very good physical strength and nice technique. However, they need a bit of discipline.'' At the French camp, midfielder Patrick Vieira said, ``We're serene, we know what we can do and we're not afraid.'' He added: ``We can expect a great physical battle, but we will try to smother them and score early to take control of the match.'' For Argentina, considered a good bet to win its third World Cup, the only injury concern was Claudio Caniggia, who injured his knee in the Scottish Cup final earlier this month. He then suffered a reaction to the injury while training with the rest of the squad last Saturday, but hopes to be ready for first-round matches against England and Sweden. Argentina opens on Sunday against Nigeria. English captain David Beckham is convinced his broken foot has healed enough for him to play against Sweden on Sunday. ``Yes, I have said that to the manager,'' Beckham said after firing in trademark long-range shots in training on Thursday. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari broke with his usual stress on defence and chose speedy midfielder Juninho for the last starting spot. ``Juninho is less defensive, but we gain in creativity,'' Scolari said. ``But he has tactical discipline and will participate as the sixth or seventh man on defence.'' Rivaldo, a member of Brazil's famed `Three-R' attack, said ``with Juninho, we have a greater capacity to reach the goal. He's always looking for the goal, always working with me and Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.'' At the Turkish camp, Gilson Nunes, an adviser to Scolari, was approached by manager Cobanoglu, who told him, ``I know who you are,'' but let him stay. Cobanoglu said later, ``They think we are fools. Only a few days left to the match, and they are coming here!'' Nunes, who said he was working for a Brazilian newspaper, commented: ``I am not a spy, I came here to watch football, I like watching football. I don't need to spy on Turkey, I have video tapes of their training arriving every day.'' Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan pledged to thwart Ronaldo, the two-time FIFA player of the year. ``I don't understand why nobody is talking about how difficult Ronaldo will find it,'' he said. ``He should be worried about me.'' On Ireland's team, the void created by Roy Keane's expulsion cannot be filled unless the Irish produce a medical certificate declaring his absence is due to injury, FIFA officials said. There have been suggestions that Ireland would seek to replace Keane, who was cut last week after a foul-mouthed tirade against coach Mick McCarthy over training facilities and coaching tactics. FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said there had been no official request so far, but since Keane was on Ireland's final 23-man squad, a replacement could be made only in case of injury.
Keeping blues at bay
It's hardly the World Cup start ``Les Bleus'' dreamed of. But they are trying to keep the blues at bay. ``We know the influence Zidane has and his effectiveness, but Zidane's not here, so let's not think about his injury and not feel sorry for ourselves,'' French midfielder Youri Djorkaeff said. ``Let's think about Friday's match, which is a very important one.'' Djorkaeff, 34, is the most likely replacement for Zidane, who tore a thigh muscle in Sunday's friendly against South Korea and is out for at least one match. Djorkaeff spent most of last season on the bench at Kaiserslautern before moving to English struggler Bolton in March. France began the last World Cup by beating South Africa 3-0 and defeated Denmark by the same score in its first game at Euro 2000. It won both competitions, and is determined not to let World Cup rookie Senegal break the pattern of early victories. ``We can expect a great physical battle,'' Vieira said. ``But we will try to smother them and score early to take control of the match.'' France will be playing without Zidane in a major tournament for the first time since its 2-3 defeat to the Netherlands in the first round of Euro 2000. For Senegal, making its World Cup debut, Zidane's absence was little comfort. Almost the entire Senegalese squad plays in the French first division. It reached the final of this year's African Cup of Nations, and many regard it as the rising soccer power on the continent. Friday's game will be a key test of whether the young and hugely talented Senegalese can hold it together on the world stage, as few other African teams have done. With better tactics and concentration, the Lions could be serious rivals to fellow Group A nations Uruguay and Denmark. France is expected to finish top of the group, even without Zidane. The opening match at Seoul's World Cup stadium should indicate whether the team can fulfil its fans' high expectations. Chasing the Golden Boot As far as individual stars who are striving to fulfil fans' expectations take your pick: David Trezeguet, Michael Owen, Hernan Crespo. Maybe Raul, Christian Vieri or fit-again Ronaldo. The best strikers in the world will all be competing for the 17th Golden Boot in Japan and South Korea, a prestigious prize awarded to the tournament's top scorer. But, who knows? Every World Cup throws up a new star. And an outsider could easily outscore all of them — it wouldn't be a first. The glittering list of past winners includes some of soccer's best ever players: Portugal's Eusebio, Brazil's Garrincha, Italy's Paolo Rossi, Germany's Gerd Muller and France's Just Fontaine, who scored a record 13 goals at the 1958 competition. The safe bets this year are on the top strikers, all household names who regularly top the scoring charts in Europe's strongest leagues. France has two leading candidates: Trezeguet, who won the Italian league with Juventus, and Thierry Henry, who won England's Golden Boot as he helped Arsenal to a league and FA Cup double. Henry bagged three goals in France 1998, while Trezeguet has a great record of 16 goals in 34 international appearances. Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta is his country's leading scorer, with 55 goals in 75 games — more than anyone else at the World Cup. The strutting, stylish AS Roma star also leads the field with nine World Cup goals — four in 1994 and five in 1998. But the 33-year-old may be hard-pressed to even make Marcelo Bielsa's starting line-up, with Crespo tipped to play up front. Crespo, 26, is certainly another candidate. The 2000-01 Italian league top scorer with Lazio, Crespo was tied for the goalscoring lead in the South American qualifying campaign with nine goals in 12 appearances. Italy's Christian Vieri, now 28, is at the peak of his game. He has notched up 52 goals in 69 Serie A games in the last three seasons for Internazionale and scored five goals at France '98. Spain's Raul disappointed four years ago, but the diminutive striker — who has helped Real Madrid win three Champions Cups in the past five seasons — will head into the World Cup full of confidence. Then of course there's Ronaldo. The Brazilian forward, who has been struggling with knee injuries for two years, regained his place in the Brazil squad in March. On Sunday, he netted his first international goal in three years, the ideal preparation for his second World Cup. But many feel he is still far from his best and teammates Rivaldo of FC Barcelona and Ronaldinho of Paris Saint-Germain are better bets for the Golden Boot. England's Michael Owen, who scored one of the best goals in the World Cup in France with a second round solo effort against Argentina, showed what he can do four years ago. In South Korea and Japan, the 22-year-old Liverpool forward is hoping to become only the second Englishman to be a World Cup top scorer. Gary Lineker was the first, with six goals in 1986. ``The Golden Boot is obviously a great award to win and not many strikers have won it,'' Owen said recently. ``We will need to progress through the first stage and then go right the way to the final for any of us to have a chance.'' Maybe, maybe not. Only four times has the top scorer come from the winning team, while in 10 of the 16 World Cups the leading marksman did not even play in the final game. That may be good news for several other contenders for the Golden Boot, most of whom come from less fancied teams but have formidable goalscoring records. Turkey's Hakan Sukur, with 36 goals in 73 internationals, is one. Another is South Korea's Hwang Sun-Hong, who has 49 goals in 95 games. Carsten Jancker or Miroslav Klose could pull a surprise for Germany, France's Zinedine Zidane and Portugal's Luis Figo — despite playing in midfield — cannot be ruled out either. Others to watch include Denmark's Ebbe Sand, Ecuador's Agustin Delgado, Sweden's Henrik Larsson, Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu, Saudi Arabia's Sami al-Jaber, Poland's Emmanuel Olisadebe, Costa Rica's Paolo Wanchope and Senegal's El Hadji Diouf. And don't forget the defending Golden Boot winner, Croatia's Davor Suker. ``I'm not ready for the scrap-metal heap just yet,'' the 34-year-old 1860 Munich striker said recently. ``Playing in another World Cup and defending the top-scoring title is all that I am living for right now.'' — AP
Top scorers
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YOKOHAMA
1930: Guillermo Stabile (Uru), 8. 1934: Edmund Conen (Ger), Angelo Schiavio (Ita), Oldrich Nejedly (Czech) 4. 1938: Leonidas (Bra), 8. 1950: Ademir (Bra), 9. 1954: Sandos Kocsis (Hun), 11. 1958: Just Fontaine (Fra), 13. 1962: Garrincha, Vava (both Bra), Drajen Jerkovic (Yug), Leonel Sanchez (Chile), Valentin Ivanov (USSR), Florian Albert (Hun), 4. 1966: Eusebio (Por), 9. 1970: Gerd Muller (W. Ger), 10. 1974: Grzegorz Lato (Pol), 7. 1978: Mario Kempes (Arg), 6. 1982: Paolo Rossi (Ita), 6. 1986: Gary Lineker (Eng), 6. 1990: Toto Schillachi (Ita), 6. 1994: Oleg Salenko (Rus), Hristo Stoitchkov (Bul), 6. 1998: Davor Suker (Cro), 6. — Reuters
Today's match France v Senegal, Seoul, 5 p.m.
Stats to remember
Most appearances: 25, Lothar Matthaeus (Germany), 1982-98. Most competitions: 5, Antonio Carbajal (Mexico), 1950-66, Lothar Matthaeus (Germany), 1982-98. Youngest player: Norman Whiteside (Northern Ireland), 17 years 42 days against Yugoslavia in 1982. Oldest player: Roger Milla (Cameroon), 42 years 39 days against Russia in 1994. Youngest goalscorer: Pele (Brazil), 17 years 239 days against Wales in 1958. Oldest goalscorer: Roger Milla (Cameroon), 42 years 39 days against Russia in 1994. Youngest referee: Francisco Matteucci (Uruguay), 27 years 62 days in 1930. Oldest referee: George Reader (England), 53 years 236 days in 1950. Fastest goal: Adalbert Deu (Romania), 15 seconds against Peru in 1930. Most goals in a match: 5, Oleg Salenko of Russia against Cameroon in 1994. Most goals in a tournament: 13 Just Fontaine (France), 1958. Most goals in total: 14, Gerd Muller (West Germany), 1970/74. Fastest substitution: Alessandro Nesta (Italy), four minutes against Austria in 1998. Fastest caution: Sergei Gorlukovich (Russia), one minute against Sweden in 1994. Fastest sending off: Jose Batista (Uruguay), 56 seconds against Scotland in 1986. Biggest win: Hungary 10-1, El Salvador 1982. Highest scoring match: Austria 7-5, Switzerland 1954. Most matches as coach: 25, Helmut Schon (West Germany) 1966-78. Most World Cups attended: 16, Brazil. Most goals overall: 173, Brazil. Most goals in one tournament: 27, Hungary 1954. Smallest crowd: 300, Romania v Peru 1930. Lowest attendance at a final: 45,124, Italy v Hungary 1938. — Reuters
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