Sport - Football

Inept Saudis give Germans easy game

By Brian Glanville

One of the less encouraging things said by Sepp Blatter at the time of his incipient re-election was that it was time to think about including in the World Cup those countries which had never previously got there. Most of us would respond that there was a very gound reason for this, that they simply were not good enough, and that to include them as a sort of charitable act would dilute a once great competition even more than it has been. But then, Blatter was probably thinking about votes, which he so frequently does.

Still less encouraging was the fact that once Blatter had been chosen again, the Executive Committee promptly, feebly and irrationally dropped all criminal charges against him: which seemed an object surrender to power. If, at such short notice, the charges could be dropped, then what substance had they in the first place? And if they did have substance then why should they be dropped?

Under the glorious Sapporto Dome — Wembley and its drawn out, old fashioned rebuilding plans eat your heart out! — I thought of Blatter's words when watching a totally inept performance by Saudi Arabia. The ultimate optimist must be its manager, who declared that he still had a chance of qualifying! Eight years ago, at least the Saudies brought with them to the States a mercurial little outside right who scored what was perhaps the best goal of the tournament, dancing past a posse of defenders, covering half the length of the field, before scoring. Not this time.

A farcical defence conceded eight goals, utterly vulnerable to high crosses, especially from the left and, when chances did occur in defence, owing to the German leaving gaps, wretched failing to get shots on target or to elude a defence which was able to make up ground.

Rudi Voeller, Germany's manager, was right not to read over much significance into such a result, though it could well give a previously inconsistent German team fresh confidence. Talking to its former inspirational captain and libero Franz Beckenbauer at Nagoya airport on our way to the game it was interesting to hear him say with a smile that the deeply debatable goal with which England scraped a home draw against Greece, thus obliging the Germans, whose own last group game had just finished, was a blessing in disguise. This because the Germans had twice to meet and beat Ukraine in the play offs thus in his opinion welding it into a team. It hardly looked the part when I saw it lose 1-0 to Wales in Cardiff, though to be fair it was without its key midfielders from Bayer Leverkusen, Bernd Schneider and Michael Ballack, the latter playing havoc with the struggling right flank of the Saudi defence.

Brad Friedel the huge American goalkeeper has been making brave noises about his team's chances though he knows that he may have to give way to Kasey Keller, now a second choice at Spurs for the most part which Friedel is first choice at Blackburn. I understand that Friedal would be mortified were he to be passed over. The American team tends to be roughly criticised by its reporters and fans but I think unfairly. True, it'll never reach a World Cup semifinal as its muscular team of largely British pros did in 1930. Nor can you imagine it'll ever have such a sensational victory as that of 1950's tournament when it beat England 1-0 in Belo Horizonte with a team of rag tag and bobtails. I don't really count the victory over Colombia in 1944 when _ though the USA was an innocent part — Colombia clearly threw the game.

Given the fact that its pro League is a fiasco — just 10 teams, five of them owned by the same man! — and the limited success keepers apart of their players abroad, I feel the USA had done well to keep qualifying and have not disgraced themselves in the last three World Cups making life hard for some better teams.

And France ? Franz Beckenbauer was not the only one who thought it looked tired against a Senegalese team which — I was there too — surpassed itself in Seoul, largely massing in defence, but always ready to break and exploiting as I thought they might the vulnerability of ponderous Frank Leboeuf at centre back. Three times the gloriously quick and resilient Diouf roasted him and one of those times brought the winning goal. France dominated most of the second half, but even so, the tireless Fadiga hit the French bar. And a Senegalese keeper who's earlier looked a bundle of nerves became a hero when the chips were down. France badly needs a fit Zinadine Zidane.

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