Iran Defends Title, Wins Asian Games

Defending Asian Games champion Iran retained the gold medal it won in Bangkok four years ago by defeating Japan, 2-1, Sunday in the 2002 tournament final in Busan, South Korea.

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, presented the gold medals to Iran, which won the tournament for a record fourth time, having also triumphed in 1974, 1990 and 1998.

A goal in the 48th minute by Javad Kazemeyan put the Iranians in control, although the Japanese looked more like the dangerous team on several occasions. Mohsen Bayatiniya doubled Iran’s lead in the 88th minute, but Japan stormed back with a deserved goal of its own through Satoshi Nakayama, the team’s offensive standout, 60 seconds later.

Japan Coach Masakuni Yamamoto brought an under-21 team to the Asian Games, his intent being to give the players valuable experience for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Winning the silver medal exceeded even his own expectations.

South Korea Woes

The future of South Korea Coach Park Hang-Seo appeared uncertain Sunday even though his team claimed the bronze medal at the Asian Games with a 3-0 shutout of Thailand.

“Now is not the right time to talk about my future as coach of the national team,” said Park, who replaced Dutchman Guus Hiddink after the World Cup. “I am disappointed that we did not win the gold and I would like to apologize again to all the people who expected that we would.

“As I said after the [semifinal] loss to Iran [on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie], you cannot compare this team with the World Cup side. They had two years to prepare and we had only three weeks.”

South Korea’s goals Sunday were scored by Park Dong Hyuk, Lee Chun-Soo, one of five World Cup players in the team, and Choi Tae-Uk.

England Complains

England’s Football Assn. said Sunday that it has filed a complaint with UEFA, European soccer’s ruling body, over the racist abuse of its players by Slovakian fans and the treatment of its own fans by police in Bratislava during Saturday’s 2-1 Euro 2004 qualifying victory over Slovakia.

“We have protested in the strongest possible terms,” said Paul Newman, an FA spokesman. “We also feel that some of the crowd measures employed by the police were inappropriate to say the least at times, and we have photographic evidence that will be shown to the authorities on that issue.”

Two England fans were wounded by security guards in a shooting outside a bar near the team hotel before the game, an incident witnessed by England Coach Sven Goran Eriksson and several of his players.

“We heard it,” Eriksson told Reuters. “I saw it from my window. I was watching a tape when I heard shooting and I thought it was fireworks. I got up and it was like the Wild West.”

Another Upset

Club America, the defending Mexican league champion, was beaten for the second game in a row since the return of Coach Manuel Lapuente when it lost, 3-2, to Atlas on Saturday night in Guadalajara.

Las Aguilas (the Eagles) had been unbeaten in their first 10 games of the season under interim coach Mario Carillo, but have slipped since Lapuente returned from a two-month medical leave.

Saturday’s victory, on goals by Gabriel Caballero, Rodrigo Valenzuela and Juan Pablo Rodriguez, was especially satisfying for Atlas Coach Fernando Quirarte, the former Mexico World Cup player who recently took charge of the previously struggling team.

Marcelo Lipatin and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored for Club America.

Meanwhile, the league’s hottest team, the Red Devils of Toluca, romped to a 5-1 victory over the Jaguars of Chiapas, with league-leading scorer Jose Saturnino Cardozo of Paraguay grabbing a second-half hat trick.