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World Cup finals start to take shape Posted: Tuesday November 27, 2001 2:40 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- With Uruguay becoming the 32nd and final team in next year's World Cup by qualifying on Sunday, the first World Cup of the 21st century is ready to take shape. The draw for the finals will take place in Pusan, South Korea, next Saturday at a glittering 90-minute ceremony which will be broadcast live to more than a billion people globally. The only certainties are that reigning world champions France will play the opening match in Seoul, the South Korean capital, on May 31 and that the final will take place on June 30 in Yokohama, Japan. France and Argentina are strongly fancied to do well -- but nothing is ever that straightforward in soccer so there could be plenty of surprises and upsets throughout the competition. Brazil, world champions four times, struggled to reach the finals this time to preserve their record as the only country to take part in every World Cup. By next May, unless their fortunes have improved considerably, Brazil will not be ranked anywhere among the favorites. The first Asian World Cup and the first to be jointly hosted by two nations will be played in 20 magnificent state-of-the art stadiums, 10 in each country.
Rainy seasonBut while the stadiums are mainly works of staggering design and engineering fluidity, something far more elemental could throw months of preparations by the qualifiers into the hands of the gods. The World Cup is being played in the rainy season, with deluges than can last for hours. Every player, even world-class stars such as Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham, is prone to make mistakes on slippery, waterlogged pitches and the climate could have a big influence on the outcome of some games. France, of course, have learnt and benefited from this first hand, winning this year's Confederations Cup, the World Cup rehearsal tournament, despite torrential rain during the final against Japan. France won the World Cup in some style four years ago and despite some mixed results this year, look set to lead the challenge of the 15 European teams taking part. Germany have often been Europe's main hopes in the past but, like Brazil, they have had a tough qualifying campaign and reached the finals only after a playoff win over Ukraine. Spain, Italy, England and Portugal all appear to have moved ahead of the Germans and with neither the South Americans nor the Europeans benefiting from "home" advantage, that quartet would all be hoping to do well. Realistic ambitionsWhile South Korea and Japan have worked tremendously hard to have their stadiums and infrastructure ready on time, their national teams go into the finals with different ambitions. Japan have overtaken South Korea as Asia's top side and under French coach Philippe Troussier they have improved significantly over the last two years. South Korea, on the other hand, under the pragmatic guidance of Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, are terrified of becoming the first host nation to fail to reach the second round of the competition. Although enthusiastic crowds will urge them on, Korea will do well to win their first-ever match in the finals after 16 attempts in the past, while Japan could make the second round before honorably bowing out. While Argentina will lead South America's charge, African nations will also be looking to impress. As in 1998, five will compete -- Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Tunisia and debutants Senegal this time -- but all five are likely to be ranked amongst the lowest seeds and struggle to advance from the first round. Still Nigeria and Cameroon have proved the growing power of African soccer and none of them will be underestimated. While Senegal, Slovenia and Ecuador will all be making their first appearances in the finals, the arrival of the fourth debutants, China, will add something special to the finals. The world's most populous nation has been trying to qualify for the World Cup for more than four decades and waves of relief and excitement spread through China when the team finally got there last month. More than 50,000 Chinese fans are hoping to make the short trip to South Korea or Japan, and their participation sees the return of a seasoned World Cup favorite -- their coach Bora Milutinovic. He will become the first man to have taken five different countries to the finals following Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), United States (1994) and Nigeria (1998). All of his teams reached at least the second round, which would be a considerable achievement for the Chinese too.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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