How France 98 Is Playing in Publications Around the Globe:
From L’Equipe:
The World Cup hasn’t yet cleared up its officiating problems. They ruined Mexico-Belgium. Croatia qualified, the Netherlands dazzled and Parreira is fired . . .
This World Cup has no humor. It had two good occasions to amaze us, [Saturday], with Japan-Croatia and Netherlands-South Korea. It let those occasions pass.
It offered us an even matchup between Belgium and Mexico. It was, in effect, but only because of the whistles of a man in black. The universe of [Hugh] Dallas is pitiless and demoralizing. His two red cards were absurd. The Mexican Pardo did nothing but make a mess of a technical move called a tackle, in which he involuntarily touched his opponent. That should be a yellow card. The second, addressed to the Belgian Verheyen, who caught up with his opponent without violence or tackling him, is a denial of the rules.
In their desire to do well, Mr. Blatter and Mr. Platini caused important damage to the game. They worsened it in scolding certain referees who badly applied the rules. . . . We beg them to put an end to this grand disorder. The World Cup would be better off if it didn’t sustain injustices. . . .
Carlos Alberto Parreira was fired in the middle of the World Cup. His bosses, princes of Saudi Arabia, were very, very unhappy with him. In 1994 Parreira coached Brazil. Until July 12, it is the defending world champion. In 1994, Saudi Arabia qualified for the eightfinals. The princes of the desert wanted more. Money can’t buy everything. You must also have intuition.
They would have been better off covering Bora Milutinovic with petrodollars. The record he is about to set would have been worthy of Beamon, if, in 1968, at the Mexico Olympics, the American would have crossed not 8.9 meters but 9.9 meters. Friday, Milutinovic qualified his fourth country for the eighthfinals (Mexico ‘86, Costa Rica ‘90, U.S. ’94 and Nigeria ‘98). It’s sublime.
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From a correspondent in San Francisco, regarding Americans ignoring soccer:
Football doesn’t fascinate Americans. In the press room of the U.S. Open of golf, at San Francisco, the “rest of the world” of journalists must content themselves with a remote control. The Stanley Cup in hockey, baseball and the future of Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls dominate the television programs much more than the match between the U.S. and Iran, which doesn’t arouse any curiosity. Nor with columnists. . . .
Hidden in a column one finds only nine lines to explain the anger of Iran after the showing of “Not without my Daughter,” on M6 [the European TV channel]. A laconic echo, without comment, report that the Iranians demanded of their government that their players don’t exchange jerseys with the Americans. . . .
GERMANY
The German Sunday press concentrates on curtain raisers on the match Germany vs. Yugoslavia, but there are also a few other topics:
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Nationwide tabloid BILD AM SONNTAG on Japan vs. Croatia:
“Happy victory for Croatia--just Suker was like Sugar.”
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BILD AM SONNTAG on Netherlands vs. South Korea:
“Holland is high of goals--the highest World Cup victory! Now also Holland played itself into the circle of top World Cup favorites.”
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Correspondents Christian Retzlaff in Berlin and Helene Elliott in Bourdeaux contributed to this report.
