Losses Raise World Cup Flags for France, Italy
Defending world champion France set off for South Korea on Sunday with Roger Lemerre just one of many World Cup coaches with plenty to ponder during the long flight.
In its final warmup game at home, France was beaten, 2-1, by Belgium in Paris on Saturday, just as Italy was beaten, 1-0, by the Czech Republic in Prague that same day.
“This result throws shadows and questions,” Italy Coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. “To put it in a nutshell, this was not the team I know.”
Trapattoni refused to accept that the absence of injured playmaker Francesco Totti alone was responsible for what is only his second loss in two years as Italy’s coach.
“We must learn how to live without Totti,” he said.
Lemerre, meanwhile, was without his star because Zinedine Zidane skipped the Belgium match and the flight to South Korea in order to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s third son Saturday.
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Germany Coach Rudi Voeller will decide today whether Sebastian Deisler, 22, will be fit enough to risk taking him to the World Cup. The midfielder reinjured his right knee in Germany’s 6-2 rout of Austria in Leverkusen on Saturday, but preliminary tests showed no ligament tear. He will be reexamined in Munich today.
Voeller already has lost defenders Christian Woerns and Jens Nowotny to injury, as well as midfielder Mehmet Scholl.
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England might not win the World Cup but it has made certain hotelkeepers in Dubai a lot richer. The Sunday Mirror reported that the bar bill for the 121-strong English delegation’s three-day stay at the luxury hotel--a stop-off point en route to Japan--came to $54,000.
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Spain’s starting goalkeeper, Santiago Canizares of Valencia, underwent an operation on his right toe Sunday and will be sidelined for two months, the Spanish daily Marca reported. Canizares dropped a bottle of after-shave on his foot Friday, severing both a tendon and his chance of going to Korea/Japan ’02.
His starting spot will go to Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas.
Latin America
Uruguay Coach Victor Pua on Sunday named his World Cup roster of 23 players, with the only newsworthy occurrence being that he dropped injured forward Daniel Fonseca, the 32-year-old former Napoli and Juventus player whose inclusion in the squad of 27 had brought Pua nothing but media criticism.
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Ecuador striker Augustin Delgado apparently has aggravated an injury in his left knee and is complaining of pain, according to Coach Hernan Dario Gomez.
Africa
Tunisia midfielder Oussama Sallami, 22, has been ruled out of the World Cup after twisting his knee during a warmup game in Japan on Saturday.
Asia
China was shut out for the third game in a row when the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven defeated it, 1-0, in Shanghai on Sunday.
Coach Bora Milutinovic’s team last week was blanked, 2-0, by Uruguay and before that was held to a 0-0 tie by South Korea.
