SOCCER / GRAHAME L. JONES : World’s Future Stars in Qatar, Not Nigeria
A whistle-stop tour of the soccer world. . . .
In Qatar, the World Youth (Under-20) Championship kicks off this week with Nigeria, the original host, refusing to participate.
FIFA took the right to stage the tournament away from the Africans for what it called health and security reasons--outbreaks of cholera and meningitis and rumors of a coup against the Nigerian military government.
Qatar volunteered to stage the event and was accepted. Nigeria’s boycott gives the Qatar team its place in the tournament.
Among the many future World Cup stars who made their debut on the world stage in the event were Argentina’s Diego Maradona (Japan, 1979); the Netherlands’ Marco Van Basten (Mexico, 1983); Uruguay’s Enzo Francescoli (Australia, 1981); Colombia’s Rene Higuita (Soviet Union, 1985), and Brazil’s Claudio Taffarel (Soviet Union, 1985).
Brazil is the defending champion, having defeated Ghana in the final in Australia in 1993.
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In England, the Football Association Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world, having been played since 1872.
The FA Cup semifinals were played Sunday and produced one upset and one near-upset.
Everton, struggling to avoid relegation from the Premier League, thumped high-flying Tottenham Hotspur, 4-1, to reach the May 20 final at Wembley. In the other semifinal, defending league champion and cup holder Manchester United escaped with a 2-2 tie in overtime against Crystal Palace after twice being behind.
In the Premier League, meanwhile, Blackburn Rovers hold a six-point lead over Manchester United with eight games remaining.
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In Brazil, scandal has again broken out in Rio de Janeiro, where Pele, the country’s minister for sport, has revived his accusations that the Rio league is corrupt.
Pele claims referees are favoring the big-name clubs such as Flamengo by awarding dubious penalties and making what are clearly incorrect offside decisions.
When he last made such claims, before the World Cup ’94 Draw in Las Vegas, it led to Pele being barred from the event by FIFA President Joao Havelange.
Meanwhile, Romario, who plays for Flamengo, leads the league with 19 goals since his transfer from Barcelona in Spain. It is widely believed more than a few have been gifts from the officials.
“Fat, slow, lazy, unprepared, cowardly. This is the sad reality of referees in Rio according to fans, directors, players and journalists,” wrote newspaper columnist Sergio Noronha.
“Referees and linesmen have a reverential fear of Romario. The boy proclaimed himself the god of Rio and they believed it.”
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In Spain, Barcelona Coach Johan Cruyff has signed a new contract keeping him at the club through 1997. The former Dutch World Cup star had been rumored on his way out after Barcelona’s elimination from the European Champions’ Cup and its lackluster league performances of late.
In his six years with the club, Cruyff has led Barcelona to four consecutive Spanish League championships, one Spanish Cup, the European Champions’ Cup, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Supercup.
With Cruyff staying, chances are that Bulgarian star Hristo Stoitchkov will be moving on at the end of the season. Stoitchkov’s latest remarks about Cruyff’s son, Jordi, could not have gone down well.
“Cruyff’s only concern is to impose his son on the first team, whatever the price,” Stoitchkov said. “And Jordi’s footballing ability is, to say the least, dubious. He’s certainly not good enough to play for a team like Barcelona.”
Meanwhile, Real Madrid, spearheaded by the trio of Chile’s Ivan (Bam Bam) Zamorano, Denmark’s Michael Laudrup and 17-year-old Raul, a new Spanish star-in-the-making, appears set to inherit Barcelona’s league crown. Real leads the league by six points with 10 games left.
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In Mexico, Televisa, the communications giant that, in effect, controls soccer in the country, wielded its power in an odd way last week.
Leo Beenhakker, the Dutch coach who turned Club America into one of the most successful and attractive teams of the season, was inexplicably fired.
It could not have been based on performance since Club America leads the Mexican League and has scored 78 goals in 31 matches, including 30 from Cameroon World Cup star Francois Omam-Biyek.
Beenhakker, a former Real Madrid and Dutch national team coach, said he had no idea why he had been fired.
Club America is owned by Televisa.
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In France, Nantes is trying to set an unprecedented record by winning the league championship without losing a single game.
Nantes is unbeaten in 32 games, with only six remaining.
