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Hosts repeat history
Japan, Korea move on as tournament enters second round
Posted: Friday June 14, 2002 11:43 AM
Updated: Saturday June 15, 2002 6:41 AM
CNNSI.com's World Cup analyst Gabriele Marcotti is covering every kick of the tournament, with a "91st Minute" column filed each matchday. Click here to submit a comment or question to Marcotti's mailbag.
Both the co-hosts made it to the last 16 as an opening round full of surprises concluded on Friday, confirming history: No host nation has ever been bounced in the opening stage.
Still, South Korea had a rough ride against Portugal, in a game that might have taken a very different twist had it not been for an early red card to Joao Pinto.
The Portuguese striker butchered Park Ji Sung after just 27 minutes, leaving the referee, Argentina's Angel Sanchez, no choice but to show the red card. It was a stupid and unnecessary foul by Joao Pinto, especially since the United States was losing against Poland at that stage (2-0) and a draw would have allowed both South Korea and Portugal to advance.
Sanchez infuriated the Portuguese further by sending off Beto in the 66th minute for his second bookable offense. Beto's foul on Lee Young Pyo was less obvious; what was even less obvious was whether it warranted a yellow card. Another referee may well have let that slide and Sanchez's decision seemed rather harsh.
With a two-man advantage, South Korea pressed forward and took the lead through Park Ji Sung. Portugal battled back as best it could and came close to scoring on several occasions (Sergio Conceicao hit the post) while South Korea, at the other end, squandered numerous chances to put the game away.
The United States, despite getting hammered by Poland 3-1, will join the Koreans in the next round. For Poland, already eliminated, it was all about pride, and Jerzy Engel's men, with six new faces in the lineup, showed plenty of it. After five minutes, it was already 2-0, thanks to Emanuel Olisadebe and Pavel Krysalowicz. Landon Donovan's headed goal was ruled out, perhaps a bit harshly, but the U.S. looked shell-shocked.
A short while later, U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel pulled two out-of-this-world saves on shots that would have ended the game right there and then. It was never going to be enough, however, as Marcin Zwertlow made it 3-0 before Donovan pulled one back late in the game.
Going through while being thumped is certainly not ideal for Bruce Arena. He'll have to do his best to restore some morale (and some sanity) to the team ahead of the second round clash with Mexico.
Japan struggled in the first half against a tight Tunisian defense before winning 2-0. In fact, a foul on Hazem Trabelsi had the North Africans appealing for a penalty that would have turned the tide of the game, but the referee was not of the same opinion.
Some inspired (and at the time surprising) substitutions from coach Philippe Troussier made all the difference. Junichi Inamoto, the hero of the previous matches, and Atsushi Yanagisawa were replaced by Daisuke Ichikawa and Hiroaki Morisihima, and it was the latter who opened the scoring just two minutes after coming on. Hidetoshi Nakata, who seems to be hitting his stride as the tournament progresses, added another later on against a Tunisia side that seemed to run out of steam.
Belgium joins Japan in the next round after edging Russia 3-2. You've got to hand it to Belgium: Robert Waseige knows hot to get the maximum result with the minimum effort.
Horrible against Tunisia, lucky to escape unscathed against Japan, the Belgians still got the job done when it counted. John Walem's wonder-strike put Waseige's men up early, and it looked like they would do what they do best for the rest of the match: defend. After Vladimir Beschatsnykh equalized at the beginning of the second half, Wesley Sonck and Marc Wilmots found the back of the net to make it 3-1 and virtually clinch qualification, though Russia did pull one back with young prodigy Dmitiri Sichev.
Belgium has overachieved year after year with the same formula: tight defending, smart play and a little bit of luck. Russia failed to capitalize on its considerable talent base, but remember: you haven't heard the last of Sichev and Marat Izmailov. Those kids are wonderful and they have plenty of soccer ahead of them.
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Hiroaki Morishima (Japan).
He comes on, he scores after two minutes, he propels the host country into the second round. If that's not enough to make you a hero, what is?
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Joao Pinto (Portugal).
That foul on Park Ji Sung was one of the worst we've seen in the World Cup. It was the kind of tackle that can snap a player's leg in two. We may never know for sure, but it looked like he said something he shouldn't have to the match official immediately afterwards as well. The referee had no choice but to give him a red card. A man of his experience should have known better, especially since the news from the other game, with the U.S. losing, was excellent.
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Johan Walem (Belgium).
We've seen some wonderful freekicks in this tournament and Walem's is one of them. Not only was it well taken, it was important as well, as it set Belgium rolling towards the second round.
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Up 1-0 and playing against just nine men for the last 20 minutes, South Korea should have killed the game against Portugal, either by slowing the tempo and keeping possession or scoring a second: they had no fewer than three one-on-one chances with the goalkeeper. Vitor Baia did very well, but you expect a striker to score at this level in those situations.
Guus Hiddink's men have played exceptionally well so far, but being able to put opponents away is what separates great teams from naive ones. South Korea got away with it against Portugal; later in the competition they may not be so lucky.
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Germany -- without the suspended Christian Ziege, Carsten Ramelow and Dietmar Hamann, as well as the injured Jorg Boehme -- takes on Paraguay, which will be without the suspended Carlos Paredes. Neither team is particularly deep in terms of personnel; expect Paraguay to defend tight and hit on the break.
Expectations are high for England, but Sven-Goran Eriksson's men will have their work cut out for them against Denmark, one of the few teams in the competition that plays with two genuine wingers. The tough choice for Morten Olsen will be whether to stick with the formation that defeated France (with an extra ball-winner in midfield) or whether to go back to the 4-2-3-1, with Ebbe Sand up front.
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Germany:
1. Stop Roque Santa Cruz. Even when he's not scoring himself, the long, tall striker is excellent at creating space.
2. Test Chilavert in the air. He cost Paraguay a goal against Spain and simply isn't comfortable coming out for crosses. Oliver Bierhoff's height should come in handy, perhaps off the bench.
3. Remember who you are. Germany is part of the aristocracy of world soccer. It should be playing with confidence and self-belief, both of which haven't always been evident in the group stage. If it starts getting silly bookings and losing the plot, it will be in trouble.
Paraguay:
1. Attack the back three with quickness. Jens Jeremies and Thomas Linke have both lost a step and are vulnerable to raw speed.
2. Shut down Bernd Schneider. With Hamann out, Schneider will be dictating the tempo in front of the German back four. He needs to be taken out of the game.
3. Exploit set pieces. This means both long-range strikes from Chilavert and Francisco Arce, as well as the aerial threat of Carlos Gamarra and Santa Cruz.
Denmark:
1. Run at the fullbacks. There's no point having wingers if you don't use them. Dennis Romedahl and Jesper Gronkjaer need to engage Danny Mills and Ashley Cole from the first minute, forcing mistakes and drawing fouls.
2. Protect the back four. This is up to Stig Tofting and Thomas Gravesen, who've been wonderful so far. They need to shut down England, both in the middle and down the flanks, as Gronkjaer and Rommedahl are primarily offensive players.
3. Don't let England hit through balls along the ground to Michael Owen. Owen is the main threat, but as long as his service is primarily in the air, the defense can deal with it. It's when Owen finds space and the ball is played on the ground that he is most dangerous.
England:
1. Know where Jon Dahl Tomasson is at all times. When he drops deep, Nicky Butt has to pick him up, but when he goes forward, one of the central defenders needs to mark him. Tomasson needs to be marked intelligently, otherwise he's lethal.
2. Get Emile Heskey to help win back possession. He did this well against Argentina and his tracking back can help disrupt Tofting and Gravesen when Denmark has the ball.
3. Exploit the left flank. Ashley Cole and Trevor Sinclair can be devastating coming forward and David Beckham's presence on the other wing will probably mean the Danes will be focusing on the right, not the left.
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Sven-Goran Eriksson (England).
We've seen his team defend well and hit on the break against Argentina, and we've seen them raise the barricades and slow the tempo against Nigeria. What we haven't yet seen is England look bright coming forward for a sustained spell. It's time for England to show another dimension to its game.
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Regarding the refereeing of the Germany-Cameroon match: Does anyone actually believe that allowing hard, late tackles and fouls clearly intended to disrupt scoring opportunities to go unpunished is preferable to issuing an "excessive amount" of yellow cards. The ESPN announcers [in the U.S.] took great issue with the total number of cards the referee handed out, but took issue with only a few of the individual bookings (and, in at least one case, criticized the referee for NOT issuing a yellow card).
This is where soccer loses credibility with many sports fans. In the NFL, referees don't stop calling pass interference just because they've called it several times previously in the game. Bottom line: a foul should be a foul and a yellow card should be a yellow card (etc.), regardless of how it impacts the flow of the game.
-- Kyle I. Jen, Lansing, MI
Answer: I don't think the parallel with the NFL really applies. A pass interference call won't get anybody thrown out of the game -- a yellow card can, and it can also get the player suspended in future matches.
Antonio Lopez Nieto's performance is bound to draw criticism. I don't think the match was particularly dirty, but almost all the bookings were for bookable offenses. So you could argue that he's justified.
On the other hand, many referees feel that a quiet word and a warning to a player is just as effective as a yellow card. Sometimes even hard-fought games go by without cards and yet the integrity of the match does not suffer. Every match is different and referees are paid to use their judgment.
Having said that, what some officials don't seem to fully grasp is that their actions in one game affect what happens in future games.
Ask any player what he wants from a ref above all else and he'll say consistency. It might have been appropriate for Lopez Nieto to book Dietmar Hamann and Christian Ziege within the context of that game. However, because they received yellow cards in previous matches, they will now be suspended against Paraguay in the second round. You could argue that another ref might not have booked the two and thus they would have played against Paraguay -- which, of course, isn't very consistent.
Why should Paraguay benefit from the fact that Germany got a disciplinarian, card-happy ref against Cameroon? The reverse, of course, is also true. If Germany had gotten one of those refs who believes in warning players verbally rather than carding, why should Paraguay be penalized by the presence of Hamann and Ziege?
It's a tough one to call. Some refs say they like to hand out cards early in the game because it sends a message to the players. Again, that's not very consistent: Why should the same foul be punished with a booking in the third minute and not in the 83rd minute?
I think the only certainty is that we should remember that yellow cards are "warnings" and, as such, should serve as deterrents: next time you do that, you're off. If a referee can get his point across without pulling out a yellow card, so be it. The main priority ought to be ensuring that the referees are consistent overall and the same rules apply to all matches.
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