World Cup Field a Collection of Haves, Might Haves, Have-Nots

All World Cup teams are not created equal, and it is pointless to believe otherwise.

Take the Dutch, for instance. Can anyone seriously think that the Netherlands, the reigning European champion, is the equal of, say, Egypt?

Or look at Brazil, whose star-studded team waltzed away with the South American Championship a year ago. Does anyone believe the Brazilians are the equal of, well, the Americans?

And what of Argentina, the defending world champion? Can Diego Maradona and company possibly be considered in the same class as, for example, Cameroon?

Of course not. But that is one of the joys of the World Cup: It pits the giants against the giant-killers and sometimes the little guys win.

Cameroon will be counting on that element of the unexpected here Friday night when it plays Argentina in the opening match of the month-long tournament. The game will be the first of 52 to be played in a dozen Italian cities that will decide the world champion.

The 24 countries have been divided into six groups of four teams each. The teams will play a round-robin schedule within their group, with the top two teams in each group plus the four third-place teams with the best records advancing to the next round.

In other words, the first 36 matches between Friday and June 21 will cut the field to 16 teams. Even this, however, will not have removed all the chaff from the wheat. That takes a round of knockout play that will reduce the field to eight quarterfinalists.

Any one of those eight should be capable of winning the World Cup, but the likelihood is that the solid-gold trophy once again will go to a former winner. Since it began in 1930, only six countries have won the World Cup.

Brazil (1958, 1962 and 1970) and Italy (1934, 1938 and 1982) have won three times; West Germany (1954 and 1974), Argentina (1978 and 1986) and Uruguay (1930 and 1950) have won twice, and England (1966) has won once.

All six former champions are in the field and all are conceivable winners. Throw in the Netherlands and the Soviet Union and you have the eight teams from which the 1990 World Cup winner almost certainly will emerge.

Basically, the teams break down into three kinds: The eight from whom the winner is likely to come; the eight whose victory would be a huge upset, and the eight who stand almost no chance of winning. To cast a more kindly light on the last group, their victory was simply in qualifying for Italy. After all, 110 nations tried, but only 22 succeeded. Italy, as the host country, and Argentina, as the defending World Cup champion, were exempt from having to qualify.

CAPSULE LOOKS AT THE 24 WORLD CUP TEAMS

ITALY: As the host nation, Italy is a logical choice to win it all. The home team has won five of the 13 tournaments, including three of the past six. But even disregarding that advantage, Italy must be considered a likely finalist. Under Coach Azeglio Vicini, the Italians are, as usual, a potent defensive force, but they have yet to produce a match-winning goal scorer.

In Spain in 1982, they found one in Paolo Rossi, whose knack of putting the ball into the back of the net in crucial matches won Italy its third World Cup. This year, they will be counting on Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Donadoni and the latest boy wonder, Roberto Baggio, 23.

Baggio last month was the subject of some furor in Italy when his club team, Fiorentina, sold him to Juventus of Turin for a record $13 million. That not only broke the world transfer record set by Napoli when it bought Maradona from Barcelona, but also caused fans in Florence to riot in protest of the sale. Baggio is brilliant but inconsistent, a fact that has not escaped Vicini’s notice.

Defensively, Italy will be difficult to score upon, with such veterans as goalkeeper Walter Zenga--widely regarded as the world’s best along with England’s Peter Shilton--and defenders Franco Baresi and Giuseppe Bergomi anchoring the back line. Italy’s problem will not be stopping goals, but scoring them.

Synopsis: If the players can cope with the tremendous pressure exerted by the Italian fans, who will accept nothing less than a World Cup victory, Italy should make it to the Final on July 8.

Best Finish: Winner, 1934, 1938, 1982.

Player to Watch: Midfielder Roberto Baggio.

BRAZIL: Although the Brazilians are one of the favorites in every tournament they enter, it has been 20 years since they won the World Cup. That was in Mexico, when the team featured Pele and Carlos Alberto. Now, there are new names--Careca, Romario, Bebeto, Muller, Dunga, Valdo--and the Brazilians once again are one of the favorites.

Brazil has a unique record: It is the only country to have participated in every World Cup and has played and won more tournament matches than any country. Long known for their adventurous and inventive style of play, the Brazilians are always the most entertaining team to watch. The country’s apparently unending supply of talent has generally been free to express itself on the field. This has meant exciting, attacking soccer, but has also left Brazil exposed on defense, a fact that cost it dearly in 1982 and 1986.

Now, a new dimension has been added. Coach Sebastiao Lazaroni has introduced the “sweeper”--sort of a free safety--to Brazilian soccer. Since he did so last year, Brazil has been virtually unbeatable, winning its first South American Championship since 1949 and sweeping aside its qualifying opponents. The new formation allows midfielders such as Silas and Valdo the freedom to attack without worrying about the defense.

Up front, Lazaroni also has the luxury of four world-class strikers in Careca, Maradona’s teammate at Napoli; Romario, who is recovering from a broken leg and might not play until the second round; the slightly built but exceptionally talented Bebeto, and 1986 veteran Muller. At the back, goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel not only defies custom by using both names, he is also the best at the position that Brazil has produced in a long while.

Synopsis: Only one South American team has won the World Cup when the tournament was played in Europe. That was Brazil in 1958, in Sweden. This team has all the credentials to repeat that feat.

Best Finish: Winner, 1958, 1962, 1970.

Player to Watch: Striker Careca.

WEST GERMANY: During the preliminary rounds, Franz Beckenbauer promised to resign as coach if West Germany failed to qualify. It was a safe bet. Germany has never failed to make the World Cup field, missing only the 1930 and 1950 tournaments by choice.

Now, Beckenbauer has said he will resign after the World Cup, turning over his job to longtime assistant Berti Vogts. Perhaps that will act as a spur to the players, who may want to win the World Cup for the man who captained his country to its last victory in 1974 and who came close as a coach in 1986, when West Germany finished second to Argentina.

Then, too, there is another incentive. This will be West Germany’s last World Cup. By 1994, when the United States is the host nation, East and West will have reunited, and it will be simply Germany that takes the field.

Beckenbauer has assembled a strong squad, with the sheer physical power of the 1982 and 1986 teams giving way to a team of more artistry. The midfield features a world-class lineup, with veteran Lothar Matthaeus and two exceptional youngsters, Thomas Haessler, 24, and Andreas Moeller, 22. On attack, Beckenbauer can call on Juergen Klinsmann, Rudi Voeller and Karlheinz Riedle.

Synopsis: Having finished second to Italy in 1982, and second again to Argentina in 1986, the West Germans think it is their turn to win it all. To see Beckenbauer become the first person to win the World Cup as a player and as a coach would not be a surprise.

Best Finish: Winner 1954, 1974.

Player to Watch: Midfielder Thomas Haessler.

ARGENTINA: If it were not for the genius of Diego Armando Maradona, Argentina could not be considered anything more than an also-ran. The defending world champion has failed miserably to live up to its title during the past four years, going 6-14-11 through May 1. One of the losses was to Australia, hardly a soccer power.

Coach Carlos Bilardo’s problems stem from the fact that after 1986 all the Argentine stars were snapped up by European clubs, leaving him to play with a second-string ensemble. The results were predictable. And even when Bilardo had access to his European players, as in the Copa America, or South American Championship, that they had not played together regularly made failure there inevitable, too.

Nor has Bilardo developed any new stars. Argentina will be trying to defend its title with a recycled team. The only thing it has going for it is Maradona. Having won one World Cup illegally--his hand-ball goal in the 1986 quarterfinals in Mexico knocked out England and helped Argentina advance--Maradona no doubt would like to win one legally.

Synopsis: That Maradona is the world’s finest player is without question. But even he cannot carry the entire team. For Argentina to advance beyond the quarterfinals, it may once again require the “hand of God.”

Best Finish: Winner, 1978, 1986.

Player to Watch: Midfielder Diego Maradona.

THE NETHERLANDS: If soccer reporters around the world were to be polled, it is almost certain that the World Cup Final they would prefer to see July 8 in Rome would pit Brazil against Holland, South America’s best against Europe’s best.

The Dutch team is led by the stars that took it to the 1988 European Championship: Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. The three led their Italian team, A.C. Milan, to consecutive European Cup victories and the world club championship.

But all is not calm in the Dutch camp. Unhappy with the way former coach Thijs Libregts forced them to play during the qualifying rounds, the players banded together to drive him out once the team had secured its berth in Italy. The man they wanted to succeed him was Barcelona Coach Johan Cruyff, the greatest Dutch player of all time. The man they got was Ajax Amsterdam Coach Leo Beenhakker. Once again, the players are less than thrilled.

Then, too, Gullit has been recovering from three knee surgeries in the past 11 months and has seen little action in the past year. His doctor has pronounced him fit, however, which does not bode well for the Dutch team’s opponents. Nor does the fact that of 104 soccer reporters worldwide polled by the Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo, 50 said Van Basten would be the tournament’s leading goal scorer.

Synopsis: The Dutch people desperately want their team to bring home the World Cup that was denied them in 1974, when Holland, powered by Cruyff, fell to West Germany, 2-1, in a controversial Final at Munich and again in 1978 when the Netherlands was beaten by Argentina, 3-1, in the Final at Buenos Aires. The team might not disappoint them.

Best Finish: Runner-up, 1974, 1978.

Player to Watch: Striker Marco Van Basten.

ENGLAND: What the English had going for them until a couple of weeks ago was an unbeaten run of 19 matches in the past two years. Then they lost to Uruguay at Wembley and reality set in. A similar undefeated run before the European Championship in 1988 ended with a disastrous performance there.

Still, Coach Bobby Robson, who will leave his job to take over the Dutch team, PSV Eindhoven, after the World Cup, has a strong squad, and England has the ability to reach the last eight as it did in Mexico four years ago, before Maradona and his “hand of God” goal sank its hopes.

Goalkeeper Peter Shilton is 40, and if England advances to the second round in Italy, he will break the world record for appearances for a national team. Shilton has played 116 times for England and needs only three more matches to surpass Northern Ireland’s Pat Jennings, who retired after the 1986 World Cup with 118 national team appearances.

Up front, England has Gary Lineker, who was the tournament’s leading scorer in 1986 with six goals, along with two of the best wingers in the world, John Barnes and Chris Waddle. Bryan Robson is England’s captain and star midfielder but is 33 and prone to injuries.

Synopsis: Despite playing in a tough group with the Netherlands, Ireland and Egypt, England should reach the second round, but worries its loutish fans might spoil any subsequent success.

Best Finish: Winner, 1966.

Player to Watch: Winger John Barnes.

SOVIET UNION: The Soviet team finished second in the European Championship in 1988 and won the Olympic gold medal at Seoul that year. Those successes have prompted experts to consider it a serious candidate to win its first World Cup.

The team has two excellent goalkeepers in Rinat Dasayev and Viktor Chanov; top defenders such as Vladimir Bessonov and an excellent midfield that includes Sergei Aleinikov and Alexander Zavarov, both professionals with Italian Cup winner Juventus.

Coach Valery Lobanovsky will be counting on Oleg Protasov to score the goals the Soviets need to overcome Argentina, Romania and Cameroon in the first round.

Synopsis: The Soviets will be difficult to beat, but whether they have the flair to get past the quarterfinals will be the big test. A solid dark horse.

Best Finish: Fourth, 1966.

Player to Watch: Forward Oleg Protasov.

URUGUAY: For Uruguay, the last World Cup was a disaster. The team squandered the talents of such players as Enzo Francescoli and Ruben Paz and relied on brute force, rough play and negative tactics to survive. It failed and was eliminated early.

Now, the two-time World Cup winner’s best hopes lie once again in Francescoli and Paz, but newcomer Ruben Sosa, who plays for Lazio of Rome in Italy’s Series A, will be the key if the team is to regain its reputation. The 23-year-old striker was brilliant in last year’s South American Championship, in which Brazil beat Uruguay, 1-0, in the final game.

Synopsis: Uruguay is the longest shot among the top eight contenders, but cannot be entirely discounted because of players such as Sosa and Francescoli. A logical quarterfinalist at least.

Best Finish: Winner, 1930, 1950.

Player to Watch: Forward Ruben Sosa.

SPAIN: Some experts believe that the Spanish, not the Soviets, are the real dark horse and that in building a relatively young team, Coach Luis Suarez has made the correct decision. The key will be 26-year-old striker Emilio Butragueno, who scored five goals in the 1986 tournament and can inspire those around him.

Synopsis: If Spain is to improve on its quarterfinal appearance in Mexico, strong performances will be needed from Butragueno, playmaker Michel and goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta.

Best Finish: Fourth, 1950.

Player to Watch: Striker Emilio Butragueno.

BELGIUM: The Belgians surprised everyone by finishing fourth in 1986, losing to Argentina in the semifinals. The success was the work of Guy Thys, the most successful coach in the country’s history. But Thys retired, and although Belgium qualified for Italy, it looked ordinary.

Synopsis: Thys has been lured out of retirement for one last charge, but it is doubtful the Belgians can match their performance of four years ago.

Best Finish: Fourth, 1986.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Michel Preud’Homme.

SWEDEN: The Swedes have looked sharp in warmup games, including a 4-2 victory over Wales and a 6-0 rout of Finland, but will be meeting much tougher opposition, including Brazil and Scotland.

Synopsis: Coach Olle Nordin will rely on strikers Mats Magnusson and Stefan Pettersson to display the goal-scoring touch they showed for their club teams, Benfica of Portugal and Ajax Amsterdam of the Netherlands, respectively. A berth in the second round is quite possible for the Swedes.

Best Finish: Runner-up, 1958.

Player to Watch: Defender Glenn Hysen.

SCOTLAND: This is the Scots’ fifth consecutive appearance in the tournament, but their stay might not be long. With Brazil and Sweden in the same first-round group, finishing third might be the best Coach Andy Roxburgh’s team can do, and that might not get it into the next round.

Synopsis: The team has problems with its defense and with consistency. It beat Argentina in a warmup, then inexplicably lost to Egypt. Which team will show up in Italy is unknown.

Best Finish: First round.

Player to Watch: Forward Ally McCoist.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Making their first World Cup appearance since 1978, the Czechs are boosted by the political changes in Prague and the fact that the team is in a relatively weak group. Victories over the United States and Austria would see them through to the next round, regardless of what they do against Italy.

Synopsis: Czechoslovakia, which lost the 1934 World Cup Final to Italy and the 1962 Final to Brazil, is a traditionally strong soccer country. But the only major success in the past two decades was a penalty-kick victory over West Germany in the final of the 1976 European Championship. The second round is as far as it can go this year.

Best Finish: Runner-up, 1934, 1962.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko.

IRELAND: This is Ireland’s first appearance in the tournament, but the team is led by a man who already has won the World Cup. Coach Jack Charlton, brother of Bobby Charlton, was a member of England’s winning team in 1966.

Synopsis: Under Charlton, Ireland has become one of the best teams in Europe and even beat England in the 1988 European Championship. The luck of the draw has not been kind, however, and the Irish will have to get by England again, as well as The Netherlands.

Best Finish: First appearance.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Pat Bonner.

AUSTRIA: The Austrians are considered the most likely to yield a point or two to the United States--or at least they were until recently, when they beat Spain, Hungary and The Netherlands and tied Argentina. Now the United States will have to look elsewhere.

Synopsis: Strikers Toni Polster and Gerhard Rodax scored 67 goals between them for their club teams this season, with Rodax finishing second only to Hugo Sanchez of Real Madrid as Europe’s top scorer.

Best Finish: Third, 1954.

Player to Watch: Striker Toni Polster.

YUGOSLAVIA: The Yugoslavs’ best hope is to finish second in its first-round group to West Germany. Whether they do will depend on their match against Colombia, which is Coach Ivan Osim’s big worry.

Synopsis: A victory over the Colombians probably would put Yugoslavia into the second round because it should have little trouble beating the United Arab Emirates.

Best Finish: Fourth, 1962.

Player to Watch: Midfielder Dragan Stojkovic.

SOUTH KOREA: Making their second consecutive World Cup appearance, the South Koreans are the best team ever to come out of Asia, but they were drawn into a brutal first-round group with Belgium, Spain and Uruguay.

Synopsis: If the lessons of 1986 were learned, South Korea could hold its own. In Mexico, it proved that it had come of age by matching then-defending champion Italy stride for stride before eventually losing, 3-2. South Korea wants to stage the World Cup in 2002.

Best Finish: First round.

Player to Watch: Winger Joo-sung Kim.

CAMEROON: In Cameroon’s previous World Cup appearance eight years ago in Spain, only a single goal allowed eventual winner Italy to advance from the first round in place of Cameroon, which tied all three of its matches but still was eliminated.

Synopsis: Cameroon has the ability to become the Brazil of Africa, especially when strengthened by its European-based players, but it self-destructed earlier this year and lost its African championship.

Best Finish: First round.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell.

COLOMBIA: Death threats and drug cartels back in Bogota have not deterred the Colombians and Coach Francisco Maturana, from believing they can be one of the surprise teams of 1990. Maturana is confident the team will advance to the second round.

Synopsis: Whether Colombia advances will depend in large measure on flamboyant goalkeeper Rene Higuita, whose fondness for wandering far upfield could be punished at this level of competition.

Best Finish: First round.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Rene Higuita.

EGYPT: Until a week or two ago, the Egyptians were being taken very lightly by their first-round foes--England, Ireland and The Netherlands. Then Egypt beat the Scots in Scotland.

Synopsis: This is Egypt’s first World Cup appearance in 56 years--the last also being in Italy, in 1934. It has no real hope of advancing.

Best Finish: First round.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Ahmed Shobeir.

ROMANIA: The key to Romania’s success will be whether the players’ minds will be on the tournament or on the tumultuous changes ocurring in their country since the December overthrow of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Synopsis: Gheorghe Hagi, nicknamed “the Maradona of the Carpathians,” was recently signed to a lucrative contract by Spanish champion Real Madrid and will be the key to Romania’s success.

Best Finish: First round.

Player to Watch: Midfielder Gheorghe Hagi.

COSTA RICA: The Costa Ricans won the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) qualifying group, finishing ahead of the United States, but have not had the financial resources to prepare properly for the type of opponents they will face in Italy.

Synopsis: Yugoslav Coach Bora Milutinovic, who replaced fired former coach Marvin Rodriguez in March, led Mexico into the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup. But Costa Rica has to play Brazil, Sweden and Scotland in the first round, and even Milutinovic can’t work that big a miracle.

Best Finish: First appearance.

Player to Watch: Forward Hernan Medford.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: After having reached Italy against all odds by upsetting China in qualifying play, the U.A.E. team has been beset by problems. Two coaches have been dismissed, and the third, Brazilian Carlos Alberto, has a fat contract but a slim chance of getting the team through the first round.

Synopsis: The inspiration for the Arabs in the qualifying rounds was then-coach Mario Zagalo, a three-time World Cup winner with Brazil--twice as a player and once as coach. When he was fired in a political dispute with the U.A.E. soccer federation, the team lost any chance it might have had.

Best Finish: First appearance.

Player to Watch: Forward Adnan Khamees Al Talyani.

UNITED STATES: Making their first appearance in the World Cup tournament in 40 years, the Americans are given little chance of even scoring. If they can avoid being humiliated by their first-round opponents--Czechoslovakia, Italy and Austria--that will be sufficient cause for celebration.

Synopsis: Canada didn’t win a game or score a goal in 1986, either, but its players left Mexico with heads held high because of the tenacity of their play against equally formidable opponents. The U.S. team can only hope to do as well.

Best Finish: Semifinalist, 1930.

Player to Watch: Goalkeeper Tony Meola.

WORLD CUP STADIUMS Venues and stadium spectator capacities

City Stadium Capacity Milan G. Meazza 90,000 Turin Nuovo Comunale 70,000 Genoa Ferraris 40,000 Verona M. Bentegodi 45,000 Udine Friuli 40,000 Bologna Renato Dall’Ara 40,000 Florence Comunale 45,000 Rome Olympic 85,000 Naples San Paolo 75,000 Palermo La Favorita 38,000 Cagliari Sant’Elia 42,000 Bari Nuovo Communale 58,000