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One more ticket

Uruguay bidding to to join champions in World Cup draw

LONDON (AP) -- Will next week's World Cup draw have a full roll-call of champions? Or will Australia stop two-time titlist Uruguay getting to the finals?

Former champions Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and defending titlist France will be in the 32 balls at the Bexco in the South Korean city of Busan.

The last of the 32 spots will be decided by a playoff between Oceania's champion and the fifth placed team from South America -- Uruguay, which was the first winner in 1930 and also win in 1950.

Some bigger World Cup names are only just there ahead of the winner.

Brazil, which holds the record with four titles in 1958, '62, '70 and '94, was living on its nerves and needed to win a final qualifying game against Venezuela.

It was an easy 3-0 win in the end but try telling that to those fans who watched a 3-1 loss at Bolivia the week before. The Brazilians lost to six of their South American qualifying opponents and have been in decline since before they lost 3-0 to France in the 1998 World Cup final at Saint-Denis.

There is still the return of Ronaldo to look forward to and there were signs during the victory over Venezuela of the old Brazilian swagger. But much work needs to be done in the six months between now and the championships, otherwise Brazil will no longer be regarded as a feared opponent.

Likewise Germany, champion in 1954, '74 and '90, had to go through the agony of a playoff with Ukraine. Once more the second leg, a 4-1 victory over Ukraine, looked easy but German fans know their team is nowhere near as strong as before.

Sebastian Deisler, Mehmet Scholl and Jens Jeremies will be back to strengthen the midfield and Oliver Kahn is one of the world's most respected 'keepers.

But Germany's tame finish to the qualifying games shows it seems to have lost its ability to grind out victories and, with Stefan Effenberg still refusing to play for the national team after disputes with previous coaches, the nation will be without its best outfield player.

France looks in good shape to become the first team since Brazil in 1958 and '62 to win back-to-back World Cups. But Brazil, winners in 1994, were strong favorites to do that four years ago.

The French became the first World Cup winner to then win the European Championship -- Germany did it the wrong way round in 1972 and '74 -- and the nucleus of those two triumphs is still around.

Zinedine Zidane, scorer of two goals in the 1998 final, still weaves magic on the edge of the area, Patrick Vieira is the midfield strongman and strikers Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet will terrorize defenses with their speed and sharpness in the area.

On the negative side, goalkeeper Fabien Barthez has been making some amazing blunders in the Premier League and veteran defender Marcel Desailly's fitness has become a problem.

Apart from France, the biggest name to avoid in next week's draw is Argentina.

Winners in 1978 and '86, the star-studded South Americans were among the first to qualify.

Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Lopez, Hernan Crespo and Pablo Aimar are among a star-studded strikeforce backed up by Juan Sebastian Veron, Mathias Almeyda and Ariel Ortega in midfield, making Argentina a championship favorite.

Ecuador makes its World Cup debut while, from Europe, so does Slovenia, China from Asia and Senegal from Africa.

China's appearance means another triumph for Yugoslav coach Bora Milutinovic, who also managed previously to get Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States and Nigeria to the finals.

Other eye-catching names from Europe are Italy, England and Portugal.

Under Giovanni Trapattoni, a veteran coach at club level, the Italians were always expected to make it and, with Alessandro Del Piero now back to his best after long-term injury, and Francesco Totti maintaining his standout form for AS Roma, they could well be title contenders.

England looked down and out in its qualifying group before Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson came along as the nation's first foreign coach. He answered his critics with five World Cup victories, including a 5-1 over Germany in Munich, and a draw to top the group.

Michael Owen, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes are all matchwinners and, if the Eriksson coaching style can maintain the improvement, England should make at least the quarterfinals.

Portugal has a huge among of talent with little silverware to show for it. Emerging top from a difficult group including Ireland and non-qualifier the Netherlands, Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Nuno Gomes will be another team to avoid in the finals.

Portugal went home from Euro 2000 fuming after a disputed decision handed France what turned out to be a golden goal penalty in the semifinal.

Turkey is back for the first time since 1954 and will be hard to beat with a team built on many of the players who won the 1999 UEFA Cup with Galatasaray.

African nations have made an impact since Cameroon stunned defending champion Argentina in the opening game of the 1990 finals and went on to narrowly lose to England in the quarterfinal.

Since then both Nigeria and Cameroon have won very competitive Olympic titles while South Africa has also joined them at the World Cup and any of them could dangerous to meet in the draw.

The United States has qualified for the fourth time in a row and aims to make up for finishing last in 1998. Although a helpful draw will be essential for Bruce Arena's team.

Co-hosts South Korea and Japan have each set minimum goals of reaching the second round.

Japan has made the World Cup finals only once but under French coach Philippe Troussier and with Hidetoshi Nakata leading up front, the Japanese have improved dramatically and will be hard to beat on home soil.

The South Koreans have made the World Cup on four previous occasions, but are yet to advance out of the first round. Coach Gus Hiddink has fine-tuned the defense, but the Koreans lack offensive firepower and need to produce a world-class striker to be in the competition.

 

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