|
Make nothing of friendlies
Nigeria, Mexico prevail despite pre-Cup troubles
Posted: Saturday June 13, 1998 07:32 PM
PARIS (CNN/SI) -- Nigeria and Mexico made a mockery of their respective World Cup buildups to make it a fascinating Day 4 of the World Cup soccer finals in France.
It gives further credence to my long-held belief that matches played to prepare for the finals -- the so-called friendlies -- offer up meaningless results. Nothing should be read into them.
The Nigerians were injury-stricken and coming off a 5-1 thrashing by Holland in a World Cup warmup.
The death of the Nigerian ruler, General Sani Abacha, this week also sent them reeling.
But they pulled off a marvelous 3-2 win over Spain, tipped by many to go a long way in the finals -- perhaps even to win the coveted trophy for the first time.
Spain led 2-1 when their goalkeeper Andoni Zubizaretta diverted an innocuous cross into his own net. Within minutes Sunday Oliseh had beaten him again and Nigeria was victorious in the section known as the "Group of Death".
It's not a fatal blow for Spain. They are good enough to see off both Bulgaria and Paraguay in Group D and qualify.
But the result certainly puts Nigeria in a new light. The Olympic champions have an array of talented players on their team. A win such as this can only inspire confidence, and, as they showed in Atlanta in 1996, when they get on a roll they can be irresistible and unstoppable.
Mexico trailed to a 28th minute goal from Ha Seok-ju, who was sent off minutes later. Ha became a piece of World Cup history, as he was the first man to be dismissed for a sliding tackle from behind under the new FIFA directives.
That one-man advantage was huge for Mexico, who had been hammered in their press before the tournament after a series of dreadful results against supposedly mediocre opposition.
The Mexicans equalized early in the second half, and star striker Luis Hernandez grabbed two late goals to put the lid on it.
That, added to the nil-nil draw between Belgium and Holland later in the day, has put a whole new complexion on Group E.
South Korea, still searching for their first finals win in their fifth World Cup, were considered possible contenders for qualification to the second round this time around.
With the Dutch and Belgians still to come, they could head into the finals they're co-hosting with Japan in 2002 with the unwanted record of never having won in the finals and never having appeared in a match outside the first round.
| 
