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Brazil imposes order on chaotic Cup
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- Is this the new order of soccer or was it just a weird World Cup? The final appeared a predictable meeting of the two most successful nations with Brazil beating Germany 2-0 with two strikes by soccer superstar Ronaldo. But powerhouse nations such as defending champion France, Argentina and Italy went home early while co-host South Korea, which reached the semifinal, led the charge of the upstarts. Turkey also reached the semifinals while the United States and Senegal, who also weren't expected to reach the second round, made it to the quarterfinals. Japan, the other co-host, reached round two. But were they really upstarts or will they be back again in 2006? The Koreans rode a campaign of allegations that they had a 12th player on the field in the form of biased referees. The Italian and Spanish teams they ousted went home whining instead of praising the Koreans for their fast, imaginative play and astonishing stamina. Maybe if they'd played with the same approach, they would have gone close to winning the title. "There have been a lot of big surprises," three-time World Cup winner Pele said. "Who would have thought of Korea getting to the semifinals? But it's not a case of the first level coming down. It's the second level coming up. That's been the big difference in this tournament and it's the big reason for all the surprises. "It was good for the game that the United States, Senegal, South Korea and Turkey reached the late stages," Pele said. "The World Cup was fantastic. I like the way South Korea played. It was a big surprise." Although co-hosting in nations who traditionally don't get along with each other appeared a gamble, it was a resounding success apart from ticketing problems. Going into the championship as one of the favorites, Argentina not only lost 1-0 to old foe England but went out in the first round. A day after being eliminated, a scene at a train station outside Tokyo said it all: Juan Sebastian Veron, Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez -- each making his own way home -- struggled with their suitcases and tried like any other mortal to hail a taxi after battling through crowds of Japanese commuters, all of whom were oblivious to their celebrity. The French were headed the same way. After losing to Senegal in the opening game, the holders were in real trouble. Zinedine Zidane, two-goal hero of the 1998 final against Brazil, sat out two games through injury, and Thierry Henry was suspended after a needless challenge led to a red card. The French became the first defending champion to go home without scoring a goal. Beaten in the first round, star-studded Portugal went home in a fury with striker Joao Pinto facing likely disciplinary action for punching a referee in the stomach in reaction to a red card. Italy scrambled into the second round thanks to a late Alessandro Del Piero header against Mexico, but couldn't stop the Korean march and lost 2-1 in extra time in round two. Although they whined that the referee made mistakes, so did Christian Vieri and Christian Panucci in front of goal. The Spaniards had a justified moan after being victims of the Koreans in the quarterfinals. A linesman mistakenly ruled that a ball had crossed the sideline before it was crossed for a goal that was disallowed, and the Koreans won on penalties after a 0-0 tie. Spain had two other goals disallowed. England rode on a tide of Beckhamania, with screaming Japanese fans chasing team captain David Beckham everywhere, finally beating Argentina and reaching the last eight before losing 2-1 to Brazil. For once the hooligans were kept away and 7,000 fans were made welcome by the locals. The championship was completed virtually trouble-free, although incidents at the World Cup sparked violence in Moscow and China. Senegal made up for disappointing Cameroon and Nigeria to make sure that one African team shone at the World Cup. Striker El Hadji Diouf was rewarded with a US$15 million transfer from French club Lens to English powerhouse Liverpool. The United States more than made up for finishing last of the 32 nations at France '98. Coach Bruce Arena's team was unlucky to lose 1-0 to Germany in the quarterfinals. In a move that provided some consolation, playmaker Claudio Reyna became the first American named to a FIFA All-Star team and goalkeeper Brad Friedel's reputation, already considerable, climbed a notch. So, too, for Landon Donovan, at 20 the youngest player to score in the tournament. The kid was so tireless that he left Ulsan, South Korea, after the U.S. loss, took the team flight back to Seoul, then a morning flight to Los Angeles and finally a connecting flight to San Jose to play the final six minutes of a Major League Soccer game. Fittingly, he started a play that led to the final goal. By contrast, Manchester United's Roy Keane went home before the championship after a squabble with coach Mick McCarthy, but the Irish still reached the last 16 without him, tying with Germany and Cameroon before losing on penalties to Spain in round two. From an organization point of view, the one big negative involved ticketing, with delays in delivery and thousands of empty seats at games supposed to have been sold out. But the co-hosts were among the biggest stars of all. Millions of Korean fans took to the streets to watch their team's games on giant TV screens while the grounds were a blaze of red, the national team color. In Japan it was blue as the nation also threw itself behind the players attempts to make a mark on the World Cup. Both teams did with the Koreans becoming the first Asian team to reach the semifinals, and thereby overtaking the Africans. But the final became yet another contest between South America and Europe, and Brazil's triumph means that South America now leads 9-8.
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