SOCCER / GRAHAME L. JONES : To Some, Expansion Doesn’t Add Up
The proposal by FIFA President Joao Havelange of Brazil to increase the number of teams in the 1998 World Cup in France from 24 to 32 has met with predictably mixed reactions.
The idea, put forward more to help Havelange win reelection than for any practical purpose, has yet to be submitted to FIFA’s executive committee for approval, but already is being both praised and criticized.
Under the proposal, there would be eight groups of four teams in the finals, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the round of 16.
Former French star and national team coach Michel Platini, now joint president of the 1998 World Cup organizing committee, is in favor of the larger field.
“I must say that we were a little bit surprised by the statement made by Havelange because we did not talk about it before,” Platini said. “But we are in favor of it.
“If this project turns into something real, this would be a good thing for us because we would host the biggest sports event in the last part of the century.”
But Colombia’s national team coach, Francisco Maturana, has blasted the proposal.
“This idea might produce some economic benefits,” he said, “but the game will not benefit if it has 32 teams instead of 24. This would make the competition too long for the players to endure.”
It is difficult to see the logic in Maturana’s argument because qualifying teams would still play the same number of matches--seven if they advanced to the championship game.
Meanwhile, Berti Vogts, coach of reigning world champion Germany, has pointed to a more serious flaw in the plan by asking where the additional eight teams will come from.
“I am in favor as long as the European teams do not lose out because of it,” Vogts said. “It would have to be done proportionally.
“In some ways it could be fairer (because) only the top two teams would qualify for the second round rather than as at the moment when third-place teams can also go through. That is cleaner in sporting terms.”
The problem, however, is in finding 32 teams worthy of being in the tournament. It is difficult enough to find 24 that genuinely deserve to take part--based on their strength in international competition and the quality of their domestic leagues. Finding 32 would be almost impossible.
Those who disagree need only try to name the 32 teams they believe should take part.
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While most of the soccer world’s attention is focused on this summer’s World Cup in the United States, there are those who are looking ahead to another world championship set to take place in Sweden next year.
The U.S. women’s national team is the defending world champion, having won that honor in China in 1991. Now, Coach Anson Dorrance’s squad is beginning the quest to defend its title at the second FIFA Women’s World Championship in 1995.
Already this year, the U.S. women’s team has competed in the first Algarve Cup in Portugal, where it lost, 1-0, to Norway in the championship game after defeating Portugal, 5-0, and Sweden, 1-0.
More recently, the Americans swept through a Caribbean tour, defeating Trinidad and Tobago, 3-1, and Canada twice, 4-1, and, 3-0.
Michelle Akers-Stahl, the world’s best women’s player, scored three goals during the Caribbean tour, bringing her total for the U.S. national team to 63 in as many international matches.
It’s a pity she’s not eligible for this summer’s tournament.
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One of the most memorable stories of the 1990 World Cup in Italy was the rise from obscurity to worldwide fame of Sicily’s Salvatore (Toto) Schillaci, whose wild eyes and knack for scoring clutch goals made him a media star.
Schillaci’s six goals in Italia ’90 helped Italy finish third and won him the golden boot as the World Cup’s leading scorer. Now, his boots are going elsewhere.
Schillaci has decided to leave his Italian club, Juventus, and has signed a two-year, $3-million contract to play for Jubilo Iwata of Shizuola in Japan’s fast-rising J-League.
“Soccer is too important in Italy,” Schillaci said. “I needed a change and I’d have been mad to refuse their offer. If I like it there, I might stay longer, but my dream is to finish my career with my home town club, Palermo.”
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Joseph (Sepp) Blatter, FIFA general secretary, perhaps best remembered in the United States for playing the foil to comedian Robin Williams during last December’s World Cup Draw in Las Vegas, will step down in 1998.
“I will stop being general secretary in 1998, that’s definite,” Blatter said. “By then, I will have been 16 years in the post and 23 years in FIFA. That will be enough.”
Blatter, 58, said he would like to remain active in the sport, possibly as a consultant. He also said the proposal for a 32-team World Cup starting in 1998 needs more thought.
“There are already a lot of problems in staging a tournament with 24 countries,” he said. “With 32 teams, the World Cup would have difficulties from a logistical point of view and there would be more demands on the technical infrastructure.
“The quality of the World Cup itself would not suffer with 32 teams, but it would impose restrictions on the number of possible organizers. There will be less possibilities, especially for those continents who are currently applauding the move.”
In other words, smaller countries incapable of staging a 32-team tournament can forget about playing host to the World Cup--unless an idea being whispered in FIFA’s corridors gains ground: The idea of two neighboring nations jointly playing host to the finals.
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China, tired of being in the shadow of such soccer rivals as Japan and South Korea, has launched its first professional league in the hope that it will raise the standard of the Chinese players and help the country qualify for a World Cup.
“Our aim, according to the plan, is to enter the World Cup by the end of this century,” said Wang Junsheng, China Football Assn. chairman.
The new, 12-team league is sponsored by an American cigarette company, with some clubs also receiving financial support from local companies. Each team is allowed to sign up to five foreign players, but can only play three in a match.
“We are reforming our soccer by moving to a market system with the aim of raising standards and reaching world level as soon as possible,” Wang said.
Soccer is by far the most popular sport in China, and Chinese television regularly shows English, German and Italian league games in addition to local matches.
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These are heady days for Silvio Berlusconi, owner and chairman of AC Milan.
First, his newly formed political party swept to victory in the recent Italian national elections, leaving Berlusconi very likely to become the next prime minister.
Now, Milan has become the first Italian club in more than 45 years to win three consecutive league championships and also has reached the semifinals of the European Cup.
