WORLD VIEWS

FRANCE

From France-Soir, on Iran-Germany: “Since its victory against the United States last Sunday, the Iranian team was in a daze, a sort of sweet euphoria that made them believe in the impossible, notably they would qualify by beating the Germans, an infinitely superior adversary.

“Their mission was already accomplished, because they will be, without doubt, the best of the small teams and heroes of a people . . . “

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On Yugoslavia-U.S.:

“ ‘We prefer to play against the big teams,’ said the Yugoslavs after their superb game against Germany followed their little outing against Iran. It must be that the U.S. didn’t cause them anxiety.”

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From L’Equipe:

“Two days away from the match between France and Paraguay, the time is ideal to speak of the overall performance of Latin American football. . . . This isn’t the first time that the Latinos [could have] qualified all their representatives for the second round. They made it for example in 1986 [Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Costa Rica].

“But this 16th World Cup, which enlarged the qualifiers to five countries from South America, made that ensemble performance more complicated. With two qualifying per group, Mexico was blocked by the Netherlands and Belgium, and Paraguay by the three other celebrated members of the ‘Group of Death.’ Chile at least by Italy, Colombia by England and Romania, Argentina and Brazil by no one.”

ENGLAND

From the Evening Standard:

“Like a dog that learns to recognize the stick that beats it, the hooligans now cower when the police advance at them. Equally they know what they can get away with. The few bottles thrown last night were not at the police but at the elegant shop fronts of Lille’s ancient Grand Place. When the snatch squads went in to collar their prey, there was no reaction to the insult. . . .”

“The Prince of Wales struggled early against the rush hour as he took son Harry to Waterloo to catch the Eurostar to see the match. The pair were traveling to see the game after ignoring earlier advice from the National Criminal Intelligence Service, which said it posed too great a security risk. . . . The royal party traveled with armed members of the elite Royal Protection Group in a carriage sealed from other passengers.”

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From the Daily Mail:

“The hooligans are drawn together by a self-perceived patriotism which all too frequently manifests itself in ugly nationalism. . . . Frequently in response to perceived slights from the locals the chant went up, ‘If it wasn’t for the English, you’d be Krauts.’ ”

GERMANY

Conservative nationwide daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:

“On Saturday, the soccer World Cup really begins. FIFA increased the number of teams from 24 to 32 and talked about democracy but meant merchandising. Why is it democratic to admit some middleweights and the best of the lightweights to championships of heavyweights? . . . South Korea, Japan, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the U.S.A., South Africa, Cameroon--they all go home and not one of these teams will be in the public’s memory after the World Cup.”

Correspondents Helene Elliott in Bordeaux, Janet Stobart in London and Christian Retzlaff in Berlin contributed to this report.