The Hindu : A tournament of upsets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 01, 2002

Sport

Sport - Football

A tournament of upsets

YOKOHAMA June 30. Once the fief of Europe and South America, the 2002 World Cup was unpredictable.

Even Brazil's 2-0 victory Sunday over Germany for a record fifth title was regarded as a long shot a month ago and came after a prolonged struggle in South American qualifying.

Now Brazil has won two more World Cups than anyone else.

Pre-tournament favorite France and Argentina joined Portugal in blaming their first-round exits on players fatigued by the jammed European club season. Recovery time was shortened as the World Cup started two weeks early to avoid the rainy season in Japan and South Korea.

The absence of weary superpowers left openings for Asia, Africa and even North America. Japan advanced to the second round for the first time and fellow co-host South Korea became the continent's first side to reach the semifinals.

``Asia has rejuvenated world soccer a little,'' said Aime Jacquet, who coached France to the title four years ago. ``This can give football a new identity and new ambitions.''

The world's most populous continent is an emerging giant in trade, commerce and diplomatic and military clout. So why not in soccer? China didn't score a goal and lost all three matches in its first World Cup final, but few doubt it will be part of soccer's new world order.

European soccer did not do well in the first World Cup played in Asia — and the first co-hosted — as the United States, South Korea, Turkey and Senegal became unlikely quarterfinalists. South Korea and Turkey made it even more unique by reaching the semifinals. Germany defeated South Korea 1-0 and Brazil did the same to Turkey, setting up the first World match — much less a final — between the game's most storied sides.

The World Cup started as a tournament of shocks when defending champion France lost its three group matches and didn't score. Other soccer giants didn't do much better.

Italy couldn't manage to win its fourth crown, losing to South Korea in the quarterfinals after barely scraping through to the second round. England must bask in the dimming light of its lone glory — the 1966 victory at Wembley.

The tournament also wittnesed many refereeing mistakes. FIFA president Sepp Blatter admitted it and so did Italian Pierluigi Collina, who refereed the Brazil-Germany final.

``I don't know if perfect refereeing exists,'' Collina said. ``Referees are human beings and all humans make mistakes.''

Spain had a legitimate complaint, losing in the quarterfinals 5-3 on penalties against South Korea after a 0-0 draw through 120 minutes. A linesman mistakenly ruled that a ball had rolled out of bounds before it was crossed for a goal that was disallowed.

A TV replay showed the ball didn't cross the line and was in play.

The Italians also complained about refereeing, but had mostly themselves to blame for missing plenty of open shots. And they were mistaken in suggesting there was a conspiracy to eliminate them.

Perugia president Luciano Gaucci was the ugly Italian when he threatened to fire South Korean striker Ahn Jung-hwan from his club side after the Korean scored the winning goal against Italy.

``Conspiracy theories crop up in all walks of life and they are 99 percent of the time totally unfounded,'' FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said. ``This is one of the 99 percent.''

Turkey, playing before a barrage of screaming red-clad South Korean fans, defeated South Korea 3-2 in the third-place game. It was only Turkey's second appearance in the World Cup. The other was in 1954.

Only one team managed to beat Turkey. Eventual champion Brazil did it twice, winning 2-1 in the group stage on a late penalty by Rivaldo and then 1-0 in the semifinals on Rolando's goal. Pele, the 61-old Brazilian who led his nation to World Cup glory in 1958, '62 and '70, said the power shift is good for the world's most popular game. ``For FIFA, it is very important to take this opportunity to see in the future that it gives more support to those underdeveloped countries,'' he said.

``It was good for the game that the United States, Senegal, South Korea and Turkey reached the late stages.''

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