The Hindu : The 'foreign' touch pays dividends

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002

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Sport - Football

The 'foreign' touch pays dividends

GIVING THEIR BEST FOR ADOPTED NATIONS: Philippe Troussier (left), coach of Japan, and Bruno Metsu, Senegal's coach, have taken their teams beyond their wildest expectations as `foreign' coaches hold sway in the 2002 World Cup. — AP

YOKOHAMA June 17. Never before has it been so fashionable, or so worthwhile, to employ a specialist foreign coach to contest the World Cup finals.

The scenes of ecstasy in Seoul and Tokyo, Dakar and London, not to mention the dramas seen in Dublin, owe much to the work of men whose birthplaces were far-flung from the capitals of their adopted sporting nations.

Germany may have been the first team from the last 16 to reach the quarterfinals, but it is one of the exceptions, in sticking with a former German player in Rudi Voeller.

England, under Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, was the second team through to the last eight and owed much of its success to the applied intelligence of its unflappable coach.

But Eriksson was just one of seven `foreign' coaches of the 32 who started the World Cup finals and, after the completion of the group games, five remained. The vanquished trio included only one man who was disappointed with the outcome, German Winfried Shafer who had been expected to help Cameroon reach the second round. The other two, Serb Bora Milutinovic and Colombian Hernan Dario Gomez, had no such illusions since both China and Ecuador were delighted merely to have qualified for the finals for the first time.

Milutinovic was leading his fifth different national team at his fifth World Cup and cementing his respected status in the history of the tournament as well as establishing China as a soccer power of the future. Gomez had the satisfaction of motivating the unheralded Latin American nation to a famous first final win over Croatia before it packed its bags.

Of the final 16, five had `foreign' coaches and all had reason to celebrate while established nations, including several labouring for enthusiasm under stale leadership, went home.

French coach Roger Lemerre stuck with his old guard and tired tactics, Marcelo Bielsa of Argentina made his 3-3-1-3 system more important than his players and Antonio Oliveira retained the `golden generation' of Portugal even when its lustre was gone. Each suffered, as did many European nations, in carrying tired, injured and careworn men, weighed down by the fatigue and rewards of the European club game.

Italy's Giovanni Trapattoni, too cautious to risk Alessandro del Piero and Francesco Totti in the same team, was forced to resort to holy water and Ecuador's unexpected win over Croatia to survive. But the nations with imported gurus, with men dedicated to the job of success in this tournament, were more pragmatic in their approach.

Before the tournament began, Senegal's French coach Bruno Metsu said: ``The last thing I want is for us to be the Jamaica of this World Cup. I don't want us to be the charming team that nobody takes seriously.''

The famous win over France and qualification for the second round proved his team was as good as his words and his flowing hair has become as much a motif of Senegal's success as the midfield power of the outstanding Papa Bouba Diop.

While Argentina, and Uruguay, both former World Cup winners, travelled home, Paraguay stayed on thanks to the experience of Cesare Maldini, the former Italy coach, who guided it to a second round exit at Germany's hands.

Eriksson, having inspired England to a dramatic 5-1 win in Munich in the qualifiers, produced another near-miracle to stimulate a first round win over Argentina and an easy 3-0 success over hapless Denmark in the second round.

But all of these men's successes are eclipsed by those of Frenchman Philippe Troussier and Dutchman Guus Hiddink with Japan and South Korea respectively.

The under-stated and under-estimated Troussier had four years in charge of Japan without the distraction of needing to qualify and, like Hiddink, has focussed solely on his one ambition: success in these finals.Hiddink, formerly the coach of the Netherlands at the 1996 European Championship finals and the 1998 World Cup in France, knew what was needed. Appointed only in January 2001, he shook up the squad's `class system', brought in a tough fitness regime and instilled strength and confidence. ``Football is not tennis, sometimes you need to play rough,'' he told his players.

His comment was noted by his men, who responded by delivering a delirious first World Cup finals victory, as Troussier's men did for Japan.

These were the successes of coaches as much as players just as much as those by England, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Spain and Brazil have been, too.

Voeller's faith in his men has been rewarded, Javier Aguirre's subtle man-management and astute tactical work had made Mexico dark horses, Mick McCarthy overcame the crisis of captain Roy Keane's pre-tournament outburst and departure by taking Ireland into the second round and the maligned Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has had his critics eating their words.

But Brazil's glorious flowing forward play is built on solid foundations created by one of Latin America's most successful club coaches. Scolari, like Eriksson and Hiddink, Metsu and Aguirre, knows that if you are going to play pleasingly, first you must win the ball. ``If we have to play ugly to reach the objective, we can play ugly,'' he said before it all began. ``What's the point of a cup like this after all? For me, it is one thing — to be champions.''

As a man, Scolari may be Brazilian, but, as a coach, the Brazilians treated him like an outsider. Before the finals began. Now, his pragmatism may become a decisive force in ensuring his re-adoption — as a national hero — if Brazil can succeed in its time-anointed `samba' style. — Reuters

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