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Euro 2000 Roundup Belgium says farewell to riot-tainted Euro 2000
Posted: Wednesday June 28, 2000 08:26 PM
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The country said farewell to Euro 2000 Wednesday with the semifinal between Portugal and France. Bittersweet memories will long linger. As co-host with the Netherlands, the Belgians were given the short end of the stick. Its national team was eliminated in the first round- an embarrassing first for a host country, and two cities were thrashed by hooligans. Meanwhile, the Dutch have been partying it up, with no major riots or security headaches to complain about, and its national team is still favorite to win the championship final which will be played at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam on Sunday. Belgium hosted 15 games in four stadiums, while the Netherlands hosted 16 including the final. Euro 2000 never reached a feverish pitch here as is currently seen north of the border. The negative image of hooligans still haunting Belgians after English fans ran amok in Brussels and Charleroi before and after the controversial game between Germany and England a dozen days ago. Euro 2000 organizers promised local businesses they would reap the rewards of thousands upon thousands of soccer supporters who would descend on their cities to spend money galore. In Brussels, business owners are angry and dismayed that Euro 2000 has brought them nothing but misery. Since the riots 'we received a lot less Belgian or tourist clientele, they fear coming to the center of town,' said Leo Vodak, manager of one of Brussels most famous and historic cafe's, The Falstaff. Because of its location near the city's landmark Grand' Place square, it suffered badly during the hooligan riots of June 16-17. 'We lost one million francs (dlrs 24,000) in two weeks of business,' he said. 'Our kitchen was filled with tear gas due to the riots, our cooks could not work,' said Vodak. Some 450 mostly English fans were detained during the weekend of violence. In all police detained 1,301 supporters during the past two weeks, of which 758 were English. Vodak said that all cafe's and restaurants were forced to close early on game days after the first night of riots, further angering restaurant owners and alienating customers who usually come to sit at the hundreds of terraces that line the historic market square. Many business owners are critical of Mayor Francois-Xavier De Donnea's tactics in dealing with soccer fans. The police 'zero-tolerance' policy has worked, De Donnea has said. The mayor vowed to continue to use the tactics on Wednesday as well. Despite the absence of English fans, barricades were once again placed at each entrance way to the Grand' Place on Wednesday to filter out supporters which according to police are not allowed on the square. And as if only a bad memory, fans and supporters, wearing different shirts and of different nationality sat at the terraces of the cafe 'Le Fiacre' which was the focal point of a police raid made famous on television screens around the world. 'We had less than expected business. The riots hurt us,' said Omar Ladram, who works as cook at one of the Greek and North African kebab restaurants near the Grand' Place. Some 40,000 police were mobilized during Euro 2000 in all of Belgium, with around 3,000 police on duty around stadiums on game days. The heavy security presence around the country dampened Belgian enthusiasm for the tournament. 'There was no ambiance, no electricity around it,' said Ladram. 'Look at how it was in Holland, everybody is partying, not here.'
Italy takes criticism for defensive styleAMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Like most things Italian, soccer is a question of beauty. Thus even Italy's surprising Euro 2000 semifinal berth has fallen short in the eyes of some critics, who see winning with the Azzurri's closed, defensive style almost as bad as an artful defeat. Chief among the 'bel calcio' brigade is Arrigo Sacchi, the former Italian national team coach who has made it his life's mission to preach pretty play and open-field tactics to a soccer nation used to grinding down opponents and winning 1-0. After Italy's 2-0 win against Belgium in the first round, he called the Azzurri's performance 'boring,' setting off a national debate and ticking off a few of his former players. The debate may only get louder with the semifinal match Thursday in Amsterdam, where Italy faces a Dutch squad coached by Frank Rijkaard, who played for Sacchi at AC Milan and employs a wide-open attacking strategy. The battle lines, however, were drawn two weeks ago after Italy's match against co-host Belgium, a key win that left Sacchi lukewarm. 'The usual defensive and opportunistic Italy,' the 54-year-old former AC Milan and national team coach wrote in the Turin-based La Stampa newspaper. 'We had too many players in defense. On offense, we were good only with counterattacks. I'm happy with the success, but the way we did it didn't always satisfy me.' Two of Italy's veterans, captain Paolo Maldini and midfielder Demetrio Albertini lashed out this week at the continued backhanded compliments coming from Sacchi, who coached both on the national team that lost in the finals of the 1994 World Cup. Albertini said he switches the channel when Sacchi, a regular color commentator, appears on television for post-game analysis. Maldini agreed. 'Demetrio's right. It's not always nice to see Sacchi on TV,' the 32-year-old defender said, adding that his former coach didn't always get stylish play from his national team. 'Some of his opinions bother me, particularly on Italian soccer, which has taught so much and won so much. Foreigners who come to play in Italy learn things that they've brought back to their national teams.' Sacchi defended himself in a Wednesday column, transmitted on the internet. 'Ours is a soccer that wins,' wrote Sacchi. 'I have always looked to take its most useful and important teachings, without disputing them. I would like though that this soccer ... was more balanced, where both phases of the game - offense and defense - are equally pursued. I would like that Italian soccer was a great protagonist in only as far as results are concerned.' Among Italy's best-known soccer exports has been dubbed 'Catenaccio,' a term first used to describe the Internazionale of Milan squad of the early 1960s. Coach Helenio Herrera's club won three Italian titles and a Champions Cup by packing in their defense, handcuffing opponents - and boring many fans. Translated as 'lock,' Catenaccio has been employed to varying degrees by several Italian national teams, including the one in 1982 that goalkeeper Dino Zoff captained to a World Cup championship - and some believe the current squad coached by Zoff. After the quarterfinal against Romania, in which Italy sat on a 2-0 halftime lead, even with a man advantage, defender Alessandro Nesta did some more defending. 'I always thought when you go up 2-0, you wait for the opponent to bring the game to you,' said Nesta. Asked if it was fun playing that way, Nesta replied, 'As long as we keep winning, it's a lot of fun.'
Maldini confirmed for semifinalGEEL, Belgium -- Italian captain Paolo Maldini will play in Thursday's Euro 2000 semifinal against the Netherlands after going through his first full training session since last weekend, coach Dino Zoff said. Maldini had been recovering from a thigh strain sustained during Saturday's 2-0 quarterfinal win over Romania and had been reduced to rest and light individual training ahead of Wednesday's full workout. 'There don't appear to be any problems,' said Zoff afterwards. When asked directly whether he would field Maldini against the Dutch, Zoff said 'yes.' Together with Alessandro Nesta, Maldini is seen as key to stopping the Dutch offense of Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Berkamp.
Inquiry: Dutch federation workers involved in scalpingUTRECHT, Netherlands -- Authorities are investigating whether staff of the Dutch soccer federation are involved the black-market sale of Euro 2000 tickets for games involving the Dutch team, officials said Wednesday. An inquiry was opened on Monday after an official of the KNVB Dutch federation made a complaint last week, said police spokesman Joop Servaas. He refused to elaborate. Rumors started last week that some tickets for Dutch games could still be bought at high prices from people linked to the federation. Cutting down on scalping has been one of the main priorities of the Euro 2000 organizers and since the tournament opened on June 10 several hundreds of people have been detained or arrested for black market sales in co-hosts Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch federation was given in between 16 and 20 percent of tickets for games involving Oranje. It comes down to 8,000 to 10,000 tickets a game and, so far in the tournament 40,000 to 50,000 tickets in the tournament. All Dutch games are sellouts and ticket demand is incredible. About two-thirds of the Dutch population of 15 million is watching the games on television. The Netherlands plays Italy in Thursday's semifinal. The final is set for Sunday.
Police beef up security after bomb alertBRUSSELS, Belgium -- Following a bomb warning, police beefed up security in subways stations leading up to the King Baudouin Stadium Wednesday evening as fans of France and Portugal were making their way to the Euro 2000 semifinal. 'We have had a bomb alert,' said police spokeswoman Els Cleemput. 'We have mobilized dozen extra police to look out for suspect packages.' She said that a first analysis of the phonecall showed that the bomb warning had 'little credibility.' As a security precaution though, subway lines were checked again but traffic to the 50,000-capacity stadium was not interrupted. The semifinal was the last Euro 2000 game to be played in Belgium. Thursday's semifinal between Italy and the Netherlands will be played in Amsterdam and the final is set for Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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