A Wide Range of Global Happenings

France 98 already is a rapidly receding memory, disappearing into the distance much like those high-speed French trains aboard which the intercom, waking everyone in the middle of the night, suddenly blares, “The driver wishes to inform you that we have now achieved a speed of 300 kilometers per hour.”

Five weeks have passed since the World Cup ended. Five weeks in which so much has occurred in the international game that the only way to keep track is to peer out the train window and watch the images flash past.

Here then, perhaps not at 300 kph, but certainly at high speed, is a glimpse of recent happenings around the globe.

IN AFRICA

Officials from FIFA, including Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and Jack Warner, president of CONCACAF, have just finished a weeklong inspection tour of the eight Nigerian cities where the FIFA World Youth Championship is to be played April 3-24. Warner was not impressed by at least one projected venue. “Even if the stadium here is made of gold, if the hotels are not good enough, the tournament will not be held here,” he said of Calabar. The United States, under UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid, has qualified for the under-20 tournament.

South Africa will play Egypt in Cape Town on Dec. 17 in a rematch of this year’s African Nations Cup final, won, 2-0, by the Egyptians, who are preparing for the Confederations’ Cup in Mexico in January. . . . Former Dutch star Ruud Gullit said he is interested in becoming South Africa’s coach. . . . Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Sunday Oliseh, an Olympic gold medalist in 1996, said he is quitting Nigeria’s national team. . . . Also bowing out of international competition is former FIFA world player of the year George Weah of Liberia, now with AC Milan but on record as saying he wants to play for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. . . . Clive Barker, who coached South Africa to its African Nations Cup title in 1996, is interested in coaching Zimbabwe, host nation for the ANC championship in 2000.

IN ASIA

Midfielder Mehdi Mahdavikia, who scored a goal in Iran’s World Cup victory over the United States, suffered minor head injuries in a car accident when he drove into a tree during a vacation on the Caspian Sea coast, north of Tehran. . . . Philippe Troussier, who coached South Africa in the World Cup, this week is expected to sign a two-year contract to coach Japan through the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. . . . Cha Bum Kun, fired by South Korea after France 98 and subsequently hired to coach Shenzhen Ping’an in the Chinese first division, has received a five-year ban in South Korea for a magazine article in which he suggested that some South Korean league matches were fixed. Huh Jung Moo is South Korea’s new coach.

A crowd of 60,566, the largest-ever to attend a match in Japan’s J-League, saw J-West beat J-East, 3-1, in the midseason All-Star game at Yokohama’s International Stadium, the probable venue for the 2002 World Cup final. . . . China’s national team defenders Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai became the first Chinese players to sign for an English club when they joined Crystal Palace. . . . Jalal Talebi, Iran’s World Cup coach, stepped down “due to family reasons,” but will remain the team’s technical director. . . . Saudi Arabia will allow its top players to join foreign club teams, a reversal of previous policy.

IN CONCACAF

Washington D.C. United became the first team from the United States to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup, defeating Mexico’s champion, Toluca, 1-0, on a goal by defender Eddie Pope. The victory, worth $125,000 for Major League Soccer’s reigning champion, earned it a two-game series against the winner of the Copa Libertadores, the South American club championship. “It’s a great victory for a league that is three years old,” said Coach Bruce Arena, who is widely expected to be named U.S. national team coach in the next few weeks. . . . Jorge Campos and the rest of the Chicago Fire will face Brian McBride and the rest of the Columbus Crew in the 1998 U.S. Open Final at Virginia Beach, Va., on Wednesday. The Open Cup is the oldest soccer tournament in the country, dating from 1914. . . . Trinidad and Tobago’s Dwight Yorke has left Aston Villa after the English club accepted a $20.5-million offer from Manchester United for the striker.

The CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 1999 Women’s World Cup in the United States will be played Aug. 29-Sept. 6 in Toronto. The winner from among Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago will qualify, and the runner-up will go into a home-and-home playoff against Argentina, the South American runner-up, for another spot in the world championship next summer. . . . Morelia, unbeaten after three games in the Mexican League, last week returned Ecuadorean midfielder Wellington Sanchez to the Galaxy until the end of the MLS season. . . . Sandra Hunt and Nancy Lay, who on Thursday were named MLS’s first female referees, will officiate their first games on Saturday.

IN EUROPE

Goals by Lilian Laslandes and Alain Boghossian earned France a 2-2 tie with Austria at Vienna in its first match since winning the World Cup on July 12 and its first under new Coach Roger Lemerre. The game marked the international farewell of Austrian goalkeeper Michael Konsel. . . . In other “friendlies” last week, the Czech Republic defeated Denmark, 1-0, at Prague; Poland shut out Israel, 2-0, at Warsaw; Slovakia and Finland tied, 0-0, at Kosice, Slovakia; Norway and Romania played to the same score at Oslo; Jorgen Pettersson’s goal gave Sweden a 1-0 victory over Russia at Orebro, Sweden; Cyprus edged Albania, 3-2, at Nicosia and Rui Costa scored twice as Portugal beat Mozambique, 2-1, at Ponta Delgada, Portugal.

Berti Vogts, Germany’s coach, said he will quit if his team fails to qualify for the 2000 European championships, to be jointly staged by Belgium and the Netherlands. . . . Midfielder Stefan Effenberg has been recalled to Germany’s team for the first time since he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup for making an obscene gesture at fans during a match at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. . . . Tomas Brolin, whose play helped Sweden reach the semifinals of the 1992 European championships and the 1994 World Cup, retired. . . . PSV Eindhoven beat Ajax Amsterdam, 2-0, to win the Dutch Super Cup. . . . Croatia’s Robert Jarni signed a three-season contract with European champion Real Madrid, which bought him from Real Betis for $5.3 million. . . . Midfielder Robert Prosinecki said he will not play for Croatia again while Miroslav Blazevic remains coach. . . . Stefan Reuter said he will not play for Germany again under Vogts. . . . Romanian defender Dan Petrescu will leave Chelsea after not being guaranteed a starting role. . . . Northern Ireland’s planned game against Malta at Belfast last Wednesday was canceled as a mark of respect to the victims of the Omagh bombing. . . . Arrigo Sacchi, former AC Milan and Italian national team coach now coaching Atletico Madrid, said he will retire in 2000.

IN OCEANIA

The Australian women’s national team has decided to ignore government warnings and go ahead with a three-game tour of North Korea. The Australians are using the tour to prepare for the 1999 Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament. North Korea already has qualified for the June 10-July 12 event in the U.S. by finishing runner-up to China in the Asian championship. . . . David Hill, chairman of Soccer Australia, has resigned to pursue a political career. . . . New Zealand will play host to the FIFA Under-17 World Championships next year.

IN SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina selected Marcelo Bielsa to replace Daniel Passarella as national team coach and appointed Jose Pekerman the team’s “general director,” a position above Bielsa. . . . Pele became a grandfather for the first time when his daughter, Sandra Regina Machado do Nascimento Felinto, gave birth to a son, named Octavio, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. . . . Former Paris St. Germain and Brazil midfielder Rai, now with Sao Paulo, will be sidelined for six months after knee surgery. . . . Vasco da Gama of Brazil plays Barcelona of Ecuador at Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Wednesday for the Copa Libertadores title. The winner plays Washington D.C. United for the championship of the Americas.