SOCCER / GRAHAME L. JONES : Euro ’96 Draw Paves Way for Dramatic Finals
The most important sporting event to take place in England in 30 years suddenly has the potential to also be the most dramatic.
The draw for the 1996 European Championship was held in Birmingham, England, on Sunday and produced some intriguing pairings for the 16 nations that qualified for the June 8-30 finals.
A few examples:
--Three-time world champion and 1994 World Cup runner-up Italy was drawn into the same group as three-time world champion and 1992 European Championship runner-up Germany.
--England and Scotland, which have not played each other since 1989 because of increasing violence between fans, were drawn into the same group.
--Defending champion Denmark, which was a last-minute replacement for war-torn Yugoslavia in the 1992 European Championship in Sweden, was drawn in the same group as Croatia, which is capable of being next summer’s surprise team.
Based on the groupings, it would be difficult to pick a clear favorite, but London oddsmakers did so Sunday, choosing the Netherlands to win it all despite sharing a group with the English and Scots.
The four groups look like this:
A: England, Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland.
B: Bulgaria, France, Romania, Spain.
C: Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Russia.
D: Croatia, Denmark, Portugal, Turkey.
Each team will play the other three in its group, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the quarterfinals, when single-elimination play begins.
The last time England staged an event of this magnitude was in 1966, when it hosted and won the World Cup.
This time it will have to be content to be the host.
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Sir Stanley Matthews is one of four English soccer “greats” whose images are being used to decorate the eight cities where Euro ’96 will be staged.
“Football Comes Home” is the theme of the tournament, and Matthews’ likeness, along with those of Dixie Dean, Bobby Moore and Gary Lineker, will be featured on 16,000 lampposts along 400 miles of roads leading to the stadiums.
For those short in years or in memory, Matthews, the “Wizard of Dribble,” is the most spellbinding player England has produced. He celebrated his 80th birthday this year.
Similarly, Dean is soccer’s Roger Maris, his 60 goals in the 1927-28 season are a record that still stands; Moore was captain of the 1966 World Cup-winning team and Lineker, with 48, is second only to Bobby Charlton in goals scored for England.
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Interesting to see that before the draw oddsmakers in London made Italy the 9-2 favorite to become the next European champion and Croatia 14-1.
The countries were in the same qualifying group and met twice. Croatia beat the Italians, 2-1, in Italy and tied them, 1-1, in Croatia.
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Defending world champion Brazil’s schedule for World Cup ’98 in France has been arranged.
The Brazilians will open the tournament on June 10, 1998, at the yet-to-be-built Stade de France in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis.
According to Pele, his countrymen will also close the tournament on July 12 at the same stadium.
“Brazil [will win] again, with my son in goal,” Pele said. “I hope he has the same kind of luck I had.”
Pele’s son, Edinho, 24, plays for his father’s old club, Santos, and is regarded in some quarters as Brazil’s goalkeeper of the future.
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Germany’s 0-0 tie against South Africa in Johannesburg on Friday marked the the first visit to South Africa by a European national team since the fall of apartheid.
South Africa, which will stage the African Nations’ Cup, the continental championship, in January, is unbeaten in its last 13 games.
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Diego Maradona, commenting on the possibility that former Argentine national team coach Carlos Bilardo, with whom he has had several battles, would not be able to resist the lure of becoming coach of Boca Juniors:
“I had Bilardo’s word that he would not return to coach. But you know what coaching Boca is like--it’s like having both Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer naked in front of you.”
Mrs. Maradona’s response to that was not recorded.
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Bizarre as it sounds, Wimbledon of the English Premier League is considering moving--not just out of London but out of England.
The club is looking into the possibility of relocating in Dublin, Ireland, where a 70,000-capacity stadium is on the drawing board.
If the move is approved, Wimbledon would change its name to Dublin City.
But there’s no guarantee it would be any less boring to watch.
Soccer Notes
Danish international midfielder Michael Laudrup of Real Madrid said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca that if the club does not renew his contract, he would like to play in the United States or Japan next season. Laudrup, 31, helped Real win the Spanish championship last season and was a key to Barcelona’s four successive titles before that. He also played for Juventus in Italy. . . . Former Dartmouth Coach Bobby Clark has resigned as coach of the New Zealand national team after serving only 20 months of his three-year contract. He said he is in negotiations with an MLS club he would not identify but is believed to be either the New England Revolution or the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
Five UCLA players, goalkeeper Chris Snitko, defender Adam Frye and forwards Eddie Lewis, Ante Razov and Dustin Swinehart, as well as San Diego forward Guillermo Jara, have been named to to the West team for the Umbro college all-star games at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on March 1-2. The West women’s team includes defender Kim Kaitanjian of UC Irvine. . . . Said newly named San Jose Clash Coach Laurie Calloway: “My salary bonuses are all tied to us scoring goals, so I’ve decided we’ll play an attacking offense.” . . . Australian forward Damian Mori has earned a share of the world record set in England by Bradford Park Avenue’s Jim Fryatt in 1964 for the fastest goal ever. Mori, of Adelaide City, scored after four seconds in his team’s recent 2-2 tie with Sydney United.
