Cup Hosts Get a Test
Not much note of it was made elsewhere, but in Seoul on Thursday the countdown began.
On a huge electronic sign prominently displayed in the city center, the days began ticking off one by one. As of Thursday, exactly one year remained before the start of World Cup 2002, the first to be played in Asia.
It will also be the first to be jointly staged by two countries, and at the moment South Korea and Japan are going through a dress rehearsal of sorts called the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Bringing together eight countries, including the champions of each of FIFA’s six confederations, the 16-game tournament already has produced a few surprises.
There was the shocking 1-0 defeat of European and world champion France by Australia, a result that had the French muttering into their mustaches from one end of the Champs Elysees to the other.
There was the revenge gained by Brazil over Olympic gold medalist Cameroon, which had ousted it in the quarterfinals of the Sydney Games.
The African champions’ fortunes took a further downturn Saturday when they were beaten, 2-0, by Japan, and were eliminated from advancing to the semifinals. Cameroon fans will be having second thoughts about hounding Olympic Coach Jean-Paul Akono out as national coach a month ago.
There was also the early but not exactly surprising exit of defending champion Mexico, whose run of poor results continues unchecked.
Today, there is the prospect of another interesting outcome because France faces Mexico in a game that each country needs to win, even if it’s only to save face.
South Korea, meanwhile, goes up against Australia knowing that if it wins and Mexico somehow manages to tie or defeat France, it will advance to the final four.
That’s important to the South Koreans, whose hopes for doing well at the World Cup were put in proper, if humbling, perspective when they were thrashed by France, 5-0, on Wednesday.
“We have to face facts,” South Korea’s Dutch coach, Guus Hiddink, said after that debacle. “International football is very tough nowadays and Korea has a long way to go to minimize the gap that exists.
“We showed the French too much respect, especially in the first half when we were marking [defending] three or four yards away.”
After his team rebounded to beat Mexico, 2-1, Hiddink was more upbeat.
“The team is improving and we know what we have to do,” he said. “It is up to me and them to achieve our objectives, and with the right mental attitude I think we will.”
Mexico Coach Enrique Meza was left to reflect on the fact that his team has, in the space of little more than a week, been humiliated, 4-0, by England, been beaten, 2-0, by Australia and been outplayed and beaten by South Korea.
All three of those are teams the Mexicans could be facing in the World Cup next year--if they qualify.
“Our passing was poor, especially in the first half, and if we want to come back here for the World Cup next year, we must improve,” Meza said.
Japan, meanwhile, is receiving some curious instructions from its French coach, Philippe Troussier. After Japan trounced Canada, 3-0, Troussier banned his players from reading newspapers or otherwise seeing what was being written about them.
“We have to be disciplined, so I told the players that [reading] newspapers and Internet surfing was out,” Troussier said before Saturday’s surprise victory over physically more powerful Cameroon.
Now that the Japanese are in the final four, perhaps reading will be permitted again.
For Australia, the unexpected turn of events against world champion France brought a cautionary note from Coach Frank Farina.
“To be honest, it was not something we expected,” he said. “We didn’t think about beating France.
“It’s nice, but what’s more important is the qualifying round for the World Cup. To beat the world’s best team is great, but if you don’t qualify for the World Cup, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Canada might be thinking the same thing, even though it held Brazil to a 0-0 tie Saturday behind the excellent goalkeeping of Mark Forrest.
“I imagine the Brazilians are pretty devastated now,” Forrest said.
Emerson Leao, Brazil’s coach, was nonplused.
“That wasn’t the result we wanted,” he said.
Ecuador Encounter
The U.S. national team plays Ecuador in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday in what is essentially a warm-up game for its next two World Cup qualifiers--at Jamaica on June 16 and vs. Trinidad and Tobago at Foxboro, Mass., on June 20.
Coach Bruce Arena brought old and new faces into camp for the Ecuador encounter.
Among those called up were two national team veterans: former Galaxy captain Robin Fraser and forward Joe-Max Moore of Irvine.
Four players will be seeking their first appearance for the national team: U.S. 2000 Olympic team forward Conor Casey of Portland, Ore.; midfielder Joe Enochs of San Francisco, who plays for VfL Osnabr in Germany; New York/New Jersey MetroStars’ goalkeeper Tim Howard, and midfielder John Thorrington of Palos Verdes, who plays for Huddersfield Town in England.
Ecuador comes in off a 2-1 victory over Peru Saturday in a World Cup qualifying match in Peru.
The U.S.-Ecuador game will be broadcast live by ESPN at 5 p.m. PDT.
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FIFA Confederations Cup Results and Schedule
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Date Site Result May 30 Taegu, South Korea France 5, South Korea 0 May 30 Suwon, South Korea Australia 2, Mexico 0 May 31 Ibaraki, Japan Brazil 2, Cameroon 0 May 31 Niigata, Japan Japan 3, Canada 0 June 1 Taegu, South Korea Australia 1, France 0 June 1 Ulsan, South Korea South Korea 2, Mexico 1 June 2 Ibaraki, Japan Canada 0, Brazil 0 June 2 Niigata, Japan Japan 2, Cameroon 0 Today Ulsan, South Korea France vs. Mexico Today Suwon, South Korea South Korea vs. Australia Monday Ibaraki, Japan Brazil vs. Japan Monday Niigata, Japan Cameroon vs. Canada
*--*
- Semifinals, Thursday, Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up, Yokohama, Japan; Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up, Suwon, South Korea.
* Third-place game, Saturday, Ulsan, South Korea.
* Final, June 10, Yokohama, Japan.
Standings
GROUP A
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Team Games W L T Goals Opp. goals Pts Australia 2 2 0 0 3 0 6 France 2 1 1 0 5 1 3 S. Korea 2 1 1 0 2 6 3 Mexico 2 0 2 0 1 4 0
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*
GROUP B
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Team Games W L T Goals Opp. goals Pts Japan 2 2 0 0 5 0 6 Brazil 2 1 0 1 2 0 4 Canada 2 0 1 1 0 3 1 Cameroon 2 0 2 0 0 4 0
*--*
