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Turkey is top surprise package
Lively win vs. S. Korea sets table for Brazil-Germany final
Posted: Saturday June 29, 2002 11:14 AM
Updated: Saturday June 29, 2002 3:54 PM
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.
Turkey snapped up an historic third place on Saturday, defeating co-host South Korea 3-2. The two biggest surprise packages of this tournament both have plenty to build upon with a view to the 2006 showdown in Germany.
After one of the most entertaining games of this World Cup, all eyes turn to Yokohama, where Brazil and Germany will look to add to their lists of World Cup conquests in Sunday's final.
In Taegu, Gus Hiddink started Ahn Jung-hwan, the golden-goal hero against Italy, and inserted Lee Eul-yong and Lee Min-sung. Turkey boss Senol Gunes made just one change, inserting Ilhan Manziz alongside the previously ineffective Hakan Sukur in attack, after his captain was savagely criticized at home for his performance at this World Cup. Hasan Sas was sidelined with an injury.
And what a phenomenal partnership that proved to be, as Ilhan set up Hakan Sukur for the fastest goal ever at the World Cup, just 11 seconds into the game. Veteran center back Hong Myung-bo tripped on the ball, allowing the Turkish forward to slot it into the net.
Hiddink's men were quick to react and equalized nine minutes later from a marvelous set piece by Lee Eul-yong. But within a handful of minutes Turkey was ahead again as the game proceeded at break-neck speed: a neat one-two with Hakan Sukur set up Ilhan to chip the ball past Lee Woon-jae from near the penalty spot.
Around the half-hour mark Turkey made it three: a long ball by Rustu found Hakan Sukur; the Korean back three looked shaky as the Ilhan-Sukur partnership proved lethal once again with another one-two that cleared Ilhan in front of a hapless Lee Woon-jae.
Before halftime it was South Korea this time on the receiving end of a controversial refereeing decision: Ahn's looked onside when he scored, but the goal was disallowed as his teammate Park Ji-sung was clearly offside. Another linesman might have judged differently.
South Korea went all out in an effort to close the two-goal gap: Song (50th minute) from the top right corner of the penalty area and Lee You-yong (55th minute) from just inside the box were not rewarded for their efforts.
As the pace of the game gradually waned, the two managers made a series of changes. Turkey looked pretty dangerous on the break, while South Korea kept pushing forward. The last 10 minutes saw Turkey under siege. South Korea got close to scoring with Ahn and substitute Cha Doo-ri and was eventually rewarded as a deflected shot from Song Chong-gug found the back of the net.
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Ilhan Mansiz (Turkey).
For the first time in this World Cup, Gunes decided to use Ilhan from the first minute, alongside Hakan Sukur. The Besiktas striker answered the call, scoring two and setting up the opener. What a great addition he could have been to the Turkey squad had he been played earlier.
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Hong Myung-Bo (South Korea).
At the heart of a shaky back three, Hong Myung-Bo looked particularly troubled. He has clear responsibility for the opening goal and was left in the changing room during the interval. Still, one mistake does not tarnish a great World Cup for a man destined to go down as one of the greats of Korean soccer. |
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Hakan Sukur (Turkey).
The prize goes to the fastest goal ever in the World Cup. Apart from being a record-setter, Hakan Sukur's goal after just 11 seconds opened the way for the deadly triple blow that sank South Korea in the end.
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Brazil and Germany both struggled to qualify for the World Cup, receiving cartloads of criticism and needing to win crucial games down the stretch. Contrast that with Argentina and Italy, both of whom breezed through qualifying, or France, which didn't need to qualify and entered the tournament as the co-favorite. Do we see a pattern here?
Former Brazil captain Carlos Dunga thinks so. "Brazil and Germany suffered before this tournament and therefore learned how to fight back and react positively," he says. "Everything came easy to Argentina, Italy and France which, perhaps, is why, when the going got tough, they were knocked out early." It's an interesting theory. Without question, both finalists have shown lots of character in this competition. Perhaps Dunga's right; perhaps to reach the highest level you need to fight your way back from the brink of oblivion.
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Amazingly, this is the first time these two countries meet in a World Cup match and, obviously, it just happens to be the biggest in the world. This will be the seventh World Cup final appearance for both sides, increasing the gap over Italy, which boasts the next most (five). Brazil is on the verge of becoming Pentacampeao, or five-time winner, while Germany can match the Selecao in terms of World Cups won with four. Simply put, it doesn't get any bigger than this.
Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has no injury concerns and welcomes Ronaldinho back from suspension, and he should go straight into the starting lineup in place of Edilson. Germany's Rudi Voeller is without the suspended Michael Ballack and is likely to call upon veteran Jens Jeremies to replace him. It's the darlings of world soccer versus Germany, a side that has scrapped and fought its way in difficult circumstances. Spare a thought too for the players who might have been here from either country but are not, either because of injury or coach's choice: Jens Nowotny, Sebastian Deisler and Mehmet Scholl for Germany; Emerson, Marcio Amoroso and Romario for Brazil.
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Brazil:
1. Deny the aerial threat. Germany is the biggest team in the tournament in terms of sheer size. Brazil matches up well, but it can't afford to concede anything on corners and freekicks. It's no coincidence that the bulk of Germany's goals in this tournament have come on headers.
2. Stretch the back three. The three Rs -- Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo -- will be given license to roam, and it's important they do so intelligently, creating space for each other and for midfielders running into the box.
3. Control the flanks. Roberto Carlos and Cafu need to win their personal matchups against Torsten Frings on the right and Marco Bode (or possibly Christian Ziege) on the left. With Ballack out, Germany will try to hit on the wings, and Brazil needs to defend intelligently in that department.
Germany:
1. Use Ramelow intelligently. He has done a wonderful job bringing the ball up out of the back three and acting as a spare man when Germany wins possession. He's still not 100 percent fit, but he can build from the back, something Voeller's troops desperately need.
2. Win free kicks. Bernd Schneider delivers a dangerous ball into the box, and he's the ideal man to serve up crosses for Germany's multiple aerial threats.
3. Oliver Kahn. The last player, let alone goalkeeper, to carry his team to the final the way he has done was a guy named Diego Armando Maradona in 1986. Kahn has allowed just one goal in the entire tournament. Given Germany's difficulty in scoring goals, he'll need to perform his usual miracles.
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Ronaldo (Brazil).
You quickly run out of superlatives when it comes to this guy. This is his third World Cup; by Sunday night he might have passed Pele as Brazil's all-time leading scorer in the competition and, in four years time (when he'll be 29) he has an excellent chance of catching Gerd Muller (who has 14 goals to his 10) as the overall top scorer. We all know what happened four years ago in the final against France and in the hours that preceded it -- or at least some of what happened. Erasing that dreadful day will be Ronaldo's top priority. His return to the top of the world after nearly three full seasons in the wilderness is one of the great stories in sports. And, those who know him assure us it could not have happened to a nicer guy.
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The World Cup if not reformed will lose its status as club football grows. This is for the simple reason that what every fan wants is to see the big teams playing each other consistently. We do not have to wait for 30 years or more years to see Brazil take on Germany in a competitive fixture. FIFA should borrow a leaf from UEFA and adopt a Champions League approach to the World Cup where the big teams play each other at least twice in a group format before the knockout stages commence. In this way the champs will have been a tried and tested team unlike today's scenario. As it stands, Germany may become world champion by playing Saudi, Ireland, Cameroon, Paraguay, U.S., South Korea and probably Turkey, which with all due respect to the above teams sounds like an invitational tournament.
--Isaac Wanyoike, Nairobi
Answer:
While it's true that many fans would like to see big teams and big players facing each other, it's equally true that the uncertainty of the World Cup is exactly what makes it appealing to others. To follow your analogy with club soccer, it reminds me of the debates that ensued when the straight knockout format of the European Cup was replaced with the current Champions League.
Some purists were aghast, because it made it harder for smaller teams to progress -- one upset sometimes wasn't enough. Those people -- and there are many -- would obviously disagree with your viewpoint; they actually like the uncertainty and enjoy the fact that we don't see the same teams advancing in the tournament year after year.
As I see it, there are three reasons why the World Cup does not adopt a Champions League format. Two of those are logistical, and the third is a little more philosophical.
First of all, to win the Champions League you need to play 17 matches: six in each of the two group stages, two quarterfinals, two semifinals and the final. If we did it in the World Cup, it would stretch the tournament to two and a half months, which is frankly unthinkable. Second, the home-and-away aspect of the Champions League is irrelevant in the World Cup as everybody plays away from home (except, of course, for the hosts). You could remove it and simply replace the round of 16 with another group stage (4 groups of 4), then take the top two in each group and place them in the quarterfinals.
But if you did that, it would not guarantee that the bigger teams would go through. After all, Argentina, France, Portugal, Nigeria and Uruguay all fell at the first hurdle. Indeed, the only major upset in the second round was Italy's loss to South Korea.
But there's a third reason a Champions League format, in my opinion, is not desirable. The object of the World Cup is not to crown the best team in the world. If it were, we would have to go to a league format where everybody plays everybody else, and then add up the points at the end. It would look a lot like a domestic league, which is the only fair way of determining which teams are strongest. This is obviously not viable, and I think most fans know and accept it.
The World Cup winner is often not the truly best team in the world, but the team that peaks at the right time in the right matches and gets the right dose of luck, whether in the draw or on the pitch. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's a celebration of the sport as much as anything else.
And I disagree about Germany's progress to the final. Rudi Voeller's men might not have had the toughest draw in terms of pedigree, but they did not simply play a bunch of no-hopers.
Cameroon was the African champion and a team that, in my opinion, had the talent to advance to the quarterfinals. Ireland took Spain, a very fancied team, down to the wire before losing on penalties. Paraguay is a tough defensive team that still managed to score as many goals as France, Argentina, Nigeria and Croatia combined. The United States beat Portugal, hardly a bunch of stiffs. And South Korea managed to get past Spain, Italy and Portugal, not to mention the fact that it was enjoyed the passionate support of the home crowd.
Sure, perhaps Germany's run to the final was not littered with huge obstacles. But you can only beat the teams put before you. Not to mention the fact that ultimately you got what you wanted: a final between the two most successful World Cup team in history.
Click here to read Marcotti's most recent mailbag, and here to submit a comment or question.
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