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Dress rehearsal Confederations Cup organizers under the microscope
Updated: Monday May 28, 2001 1:37 PM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The Confederations Cup is being stretched further and farther afield and is taking on more significance than ever. The 2001 edition is a mini-World Cup, for competing nations and for planners. It involves eight teams split into two groups and playing in six venues across two nations that are separated by sea and divided by language. Co-hosts Japan and Korea will be contesting the May 30-June 10 tournament, along with defending champion Mexico, World Cup holder France, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon and Canada. More importantly, World Cup organizers in both nations will be focussing on fine-tuning venues, logistics and infrastructure. When France opens against South Korea at Daegu on Wednesday and Brazil takes on Cameroon in Ibaraki, Japan, on Thursday, public attention will be on the action. But the finer details of security, fan safety, levels of accommodation, ticket complications and public transport will come under heavier scrutiny from FIFA, soccer's world governing body. It's the closest thing to a warmup event before the two different organizing committees -- KOWOC in South Korea and JAWOC in Japan -- combine to put on the world's biggest single-sport tournament. International Stadium in Yokohama, venue for the World Cup final in June, 2002, will also host the Confederations Cup finale next month. Three World Cup venues in each nation will be at full working capacity for the tuneup. In Korea, they are Daegu Sports Complex and Ulsan Mansu Stadium in south-eastern Korea and Suwon World Cup stadium, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Seoul. In Japan, the venues are: Niigata Prefectural Stadium on the Japan Sea coastline, the Kashima Soccer Stadium at Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, and Yokohama. This is the first time the Confederations Cup has been jointly staged in two nations. As such, it will be a perfect preview of the World Cup, which is also being co-hosted for the first time and being staged for the first time in Asia. The pressure is on. Japanese organizers, already facing budget problems and ticketing dramas associated with a problematic internet booking system, have gone looking for public funding. Ten local governments controlling venues that will host World Cup matches last week pledged to help share the cost burden with Japanese organizers to guarantee that the event is a success. On the Korean Peninsula, organizers have been given an ultimatum from the highest level. South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on Monday urged organizers to make no mistakes. "We must make the most of this precious and historic chance for economic development, national unity and enhancing the nation's international status," Kim told organizers in Seoul. Kim said that South Korea's successful staging of the 1988 Olympics lifted the nation's international status and helped develop its economy by attracting huge foreign investments. South Korea's police have already starting preparing for security concerns, forming a "Hooligan Squad" to clamp down on the sort of riots that marred the France '98 World Cup. Never before have two countries shared hosting rights to soccer's premier event. And it would be hard to find two non-warring nations less likely to want to join hands. Japan occupied Korea from 1910 until 1945, and animosity still runs deep. The co-hosting arrangement has worked in other tournaments, most recently the Euro 2000 tournament in the Netherlands and Belgium. But Dr. Chung Mong-joon, chairman of the Korean organizing committee, said Korea-Japan organizers faced much bigger obstacles. "Belgium and the Netherlands are connected by land, whereas Korea and Japan are divided by sea," Chung said. "Therefore, it is important for Korea and Japan to be very well prepared. It is fortunate that until now the relationship between the two countries has been very cooperative." With demand already far exceeding supply of World Cup tickets, the Confederations Cup should also provide a good spectacle for fans that might miss out on tickets. Japan, the Asian champion, is confident of advancing into the second round despite being drawn in the same group as four-time World Cup titlist Brazil and Olympic champion Cameroon in its pool. Mexico, which had the benefit of a 110,000 home crowd at Aztec Stadium in Mexico when it edged Brazil 4-3 to win in '99, will also find it tough to qualify for the semis against France, Australia and South Korea. World champ France starts countdown to World CupSEOUL -- A year and a day before they start their defense of the World Cup, reigning world champion France faces South Korea on Wednesday to set the Confederations Cup "warm-up" tournament in motion. On May 31 next year, France will kick off the 2002 World Cup finals, so Wednesday's opener in the southern city of Taegu for the eight-team Confederations Cup tournament is an important milestone. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals being played in Suwon and in Yokohama, the venue for next year's World Cup final. The losing semifinalists meet in a third-place playoff in Ulsan, with the title being decided in Yokohama on June 10. Real indication The 16 matches in this competition are not only important for the teams likely to be back here along with France next year, but also for the technical staff responsible for running the stadiums and the World Cup itself. FIFA, world soccer's governing body, will be keeping an eye on all aspects of the Confederations Cup and in many ways the logistical considerations are far more important than what happens on the field. But all eight teams are keen to do well, and French coach Roger Lemerre said: "It is good to be playing competitive matches again after so many friendlies. "This might not be the World Cup, but it is an important stepping stone, and it is always healthy to win another trophy." France are without Zinedine Zidane and Fabien Barthez, but their squad is still a strong one. It includes the likes of European Cup winners Bixente Lizarazu and Willy Sagnol of Bayern Munich, Patrick Vieira of Arsenal, Christophe Dugarry of Bordeaux and Nicholas Anelka of Paris St Germain. Lemerre has also included eight uncapped players in his 23-man squad including Bastia's Frederic Nee, the leading scorer in the French first division this season with 16 goals, and a late stand-in for injured Arsenal forward Thierry Henry. Real dog-fight Brazil, France's predecessors as world champions but now involved in a real dog-fight to qualify for next year's finals, were the first team to arrive for the tournament a week ago. They beat J-League side Tokyo Verdy 2-0 in a warm-up friendly in Tokyo on Saturday thanks to second-half goals from Washington and Julio Batista. It was by no means a vintage "samba-soccer" performance but coach Emerson Leao explained some of his players still felt jet-lagged and others had never played against an Asian team before. Like France, Leao is planning to play some younger players here in the absence of established stars like Roberto Carlos and Rivaldo. "Victory here would be a big confidence boost," he said, targeting Cameroon as probably their main first round rivals. "Although we might be missing some players, others will get their chance to make their mark. We also are looking for revenge over Cameroon after they beat us in the Olympics last year." Japan may have something to say about Brazil and Cameroon dominating their group. Japan's French coach Philippe Troussier has been putting his squad through a series of tough physical workouts in preparation for the competition and as ever, there will be a huge, if somewhat unrealistic, expectation on them to do well. Japan will be looking for an improvement in their recent results after being beaten 5-0 by France and 1-0 by Spain in Europe recently, while their co-hosts South Korea will also be looking to do better after some patchy recent performances. Most-capped player Korea's Dutch coach Guus Hiddink will be relying on a squad mainly composed of domestically based players and some from the J-League, and they will do well to reach the last four. Mexico, who beat Brazil 4-3 to win the Confederations Cup in 1999, arrived in Korea chastened by their 4-0 defeat to England in Derby on Friday. But at least Claudio Suarez should have something to celebrate on Wednesday. He is expected to be in the lineup for their opening match against Australia in Suwon when he will be capped for the 157th time, equaling the world appearance record currently held by Hossam Hassan of Egypt. The only thing certain about Australia's appearance is that they won't be running up 20 and 30-goal winning margins as they did in their Oceania group qualifiers recently. Archie Thompson, who set a World Cup record by scoring 13 times when Australia beat American Samoa 31-0 on April 11 is in the squad, as are a number of European-based exiles including Middlesbrough's Mark Schwarzer and Paul Okon and Hayden Foxe who recently completed his long drawn-out move to West Ham.
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