Soccer
The headlines are a grim reflection of recent events in England, which plays its biggest game in years Saturday against a backdrop of rape allegations, a threatened player boycott and a drug scandal.
“England in Meltdown,” “Football Shame,” and “Drugs, Sexual Assault, Just Another Day in Our National Game,” read some of the headlines this week.
Pele, the Brazilian superstar who popularized “the beautiful game,” visited England on a goodwill tour and found the country embroiled in controversy -- on and off the pitch.
“They don’t love the game,” Pele said of today’s players. “They don’t love the team. This is something I worry about.”
For starters, English players threatened to boycott Saturday’s Euro 2004 qualifying match against Turkey over the decision to exclude defender Rio Ferdinand from the team because he failed to take a random drug test last month. Ferdinand said he simply forgot the date of the test. The players dropped their threat Wednesday.
What’s more, fear of violence at the match at Istanbul prompted English soccer officials to refuse their allotment of tickets and issue warnings against travel to Turkey.
Liverpool standout Michael Owen said Thursday he cannot play in the match because of an injury to his right leg, suffered during a 2-1 loss Saturday to Arsenal, further jeopardizing England’s chances.
Meanwhile, police continue to investigate allegations made by a 17-year-old girl two weeks ago that she was raped by a group of men at a posh London hotel, including several unidentified Premier League players.
Elsewhere, Jody Morris of Leeds United was arrested this week in the alleged sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman at a highway rest stop. Morris has been suspended by the club. Newcastle’s Craig Bellamy was fined $1,250 in the wake of a drunken confrontation with a nightclub bouncer.
On the field, Manchester United and Arsenal engaged in shoving and shouting matches at the end of a scoreless game last month. Six Arsenal players and two from Manchester United have been charged with misconduct by the Football Assn.
“The beautiful game has been violated beyond all reason,” one English columnist wrote this week. “The media have hyped footballers into such celebrity that they can hardly be blamed for regarding themselves as superior beings. They are tin gods in reality, false idols of a society sinking into a cultural abyss.”
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Euro 2004
England needs only a tie to qualify for the tournament, which will be held next year at Portugal. Turkey must win to advance.
Germany, the 2002 World Cup runner-up, can win its group with a victory over Iceland. France, Italy, Spain and Sweden also are almost certain to advance.
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Champions Cup
Goals from Paulo Da Silva and Vincente Sanchez led Toluca to a 2-1 victory Wednesday over Morelia in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It was the second consecutive all-Mexican final in the 41-year history of the tournament. It also was Toluca’s first championship in the event since 1968.
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Iraqi Victory
Iraq defeated Bahrain, 5-1, in an Asian Cup qualifier Wednesday, its first international match since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government. Younis M. Khalaf scored four goals for Iraq.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
