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Grade A Figo, Hagi look to upstage England-Germany
Posted: Thursday June 08, 2000 09:23 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Wembley, England; Leon, Mexico; Turin, Italy. Now add Charleroi, Belgium to the list. England vs. Germany, a matchup that has led to some of the most dramatic moments in soccer, will write a new chapter when the two powerhouses meet in the first round Group A of the European Championship on June 17. Memories of Bobby Charlton vs. Franz Beckenbauer, Geoff Hurst's three World Cup final goals in 1966, Germany's fight back from 2-0 down in 1970 at the Mexico World Cup, Paul Gascoigne's tears in 1990 during the World Cup semifinals, Gareth Southgate's penalty shootout miss at Euro '96, which cost England a place in the final -- all will come flooding back when the two meet at the 30,000-capacity Stade du Pays de Charleroi. This time the venue doesn't really match the occasion. Charleroi is a former mining city 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Brussels surrounded by slag heaps and old industrial sites. There have been campaigns to move the match to a more secure stadium in Brussels because of the likelihood of fan violence at the game. But Charleroi it is, and the two nations, which will also meet in the qualifying round for the 2002 World Cup, are analyzing each other in the buildup to the latest high profile confrontation. Group A, however, is not all about England and Germany. Portugal's Luis Figo and Romania's Gheorghe Hagi will make sure of that. Luis Figo, who has ha a standout season for Barcelona, is part of a star-studded and hugely experienced Portuguese team that is long overdue for a major success in international competitions. The midfielder who attacks from the right with his surging runs and pinpoint crosses will be backed up by Fernando Couto of Italian champion Lazio, midfielder Rui Costa of Fiorentina and striker Joao Pinto of Benfica with an experienced goalkeeper, Vitor Baia. The down side is that most of these Portuguese stars were around for the 1996 Euros in England when they flopped in the quarterfinals having gone into the championship with hopes of winning the title. To make it worse, they also failed to make it to the World Cup in France two years later. Romania is another team of underachievers. The squad qualified with an unbeaten record of seven wins and three ties and has an abundance of experienced talent in Hagi and Gheorghe Popescu, both of Turkey's newly crowned UEFA Cup winner Galatasaray, Chelsea's Dan Petrescu, Viorel Moldovan of Fenerbahce and Adrian Ilie of Valencia. They finished their preparation campaign over the weekend with a 2-1 win over Greece. But when it comes to the big events, they simply don't perform. The opposite could be said of the Germans. They know they were nowhere near their best when they won Euro 96 -- beating England in the semifinal after yet another penalty shootout -- and slid meekly out of the 1998 World Cup after losing 3-0 to Croatia in the quarterfinal. But the Germans can put a poor squad into a championship and still come out with the trophy. The only nation to have three World Cup and three European Championship triumphs, Germany goes into this competition probably with confidence at its lowest, even after Saturday's 3-2 victory over the Czechs in Nuremburg. Coach Erich Ribbeck has been criticized all around for his team selections, inability to lift the team's spirits. Much will depend on the team's opening game against Romania in Liege June 12. If Hagi can weave his magic in what is certainly his final major championship, the Germans could be in trouble right at the start, and Ribbeck will be under even more pressure before the much-anticipated showdown with England five days later. England faces Portugal in Eindhoven June 12 after a poor performance against soccer minnow Malta on Saturday. Third-choice goalkeeper Richard Wright gave away two penalties on his debut but avoided a humiliating tie by saving the second two minutes from the end, allowing England to escape with a 2-1 victory against the Maltese part-timers. In the Euro 2000 runup, England had performed well against Brazil (1-1) and Ukraine (2-0). "We'd sooner get a performance like that out of the way before the championship," English coach Kevin Keegan said. "Playing like that, we're not going to win Euro 2000, that's true. But we are better than that. It was a little stutter, hopefully." England will need to get back to close to its best against the Portuguese who, although likely to go into the game with a negative looking 4-5-1 formation, have the ability to punish sloppy defending. Portugal had good practice against the British style of play, beating Wales 3-0 over the weekend.
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