WORLD CUP ’90 : Second-Round Teams Say <i> Ciao</i> to Second Rate
For two weeks, the 24 best soccer teams in the world labored mightily, playing 36 games across Italy. From the first kickoff, the question was which 16 would survive and advance to the World Cup’s second round.
The answer came Thursday, but the matchups were not known until later that night, when they were decided not on the field but on paper. Not through a booted black and white ball, but from red and yellow plastic balls nestled in a fish tank in Rome.
Underachieving Group F forced a lottery to determine how the world’s most popular sports tournament will proceed. It was only modestly complex.
But for a second-half goal that gave England unchallenged title to a tie-happy group and a second-round match against Belgium in Bologna next Tuesday, the lottery would have baffled Pele himself.
In the end, balls drawn from the bowl decreed that Ireland had finished second in Group F and the Netherlands third. They had finished with identical records--three points and two goals.
Ireland, playing boldly against long odds in its Cup debut, will face Romania in Genoa Monday.
The Netherlands, a pre-tournament favorite that has played below expectations, will have a tougher time, going against mighty West Germany in Milan Sunday.
Another pairing not decided until the lottery will also see the two South American heavyweights, Brazil and lackluster defending champion Argentina, play a second-round match Sunday in Turin.
Spain, playing a fast game after a shaky start, won its division Thursday with a convincing 2-1 victory over Belgium and will play Yugoslavia in Verona on Tuesday.
Uruguay, a skilled but slow-starting dark horse, qualified Thursday on a last-gasp goal that beat plucky South Korea, 1-0, and left Uruguay’s coaching staff shaking with relief. But victory brought bad news: The Uruguayans must play powerhouse Italy in Rome’s Olympic Stadium Monday.
Costa Rica wound up the first round as everybody’s favorite underdog--for those not favoring Cameroon. Costa Rica, playing in a berth that might otherwise have gone to disqualified Mexico, made the most of its first Cup appearance.
One of only four competing countries whose players are mostly part-time professionals--Egypt, Cameroon and the United States are the others--Costa Rica defeated Scotland, held Brazil to a single goal and came from behind to beat Sweden. With all of Central America cheering, the Costa Ricans will venture into the second round against poised and polished Czechoslovakia Saturday in Bari.
Of the 24 starters, only Italy, awesome in its final 2-0 outing against the Czechs; and Brazil, strong but unconvincing, won all three first-round matches. That was enough to assure them home-team advantage in Rome and Turin, respectively, for the second round.
West Germany, with 10 goals, led the first-round scoring but had to settle for a 1-1 tie in its final match against Colombia, which had barely made it into the tournament. Colombia will play feisty Cameroon in Naples Sunday.
Austria and Scotland had lingering hopes that a lottery might spare them when Thursday began, but they vanished when Uruguay won and Ireland tied the Netherlands.
Surprising departures among the eight homeward-bound also-rans include the Soviet Union, which meshed only in its final game, a 4-0 victory over Cameroon, and Sweden, which had been considered a second-round shoo-in but didn’t get a point.
No one was surprised to see the United States, innocents abroad, go home without a point--or the winless United Arab Emirates, for that matter, although they played well enough to earn their Brazilian coach the offer of a $360,000, three-year contract. Outclassed South Korea was the only other team to leave without a point.
Unlike the 36 first-round games, in which ties were allowed, the action now becomes sudden-death, and a tie that outlasts overtime will be resolved by a shootout.
