South Korea Coach Makes Case to Stay
South Korea Coach Humberto Coelho on Sunday denied reports that he might be fired after upset losses last week to Vietnam and Oman in qualifying games for the 2004 Asian Cup in China.
The Koreans, who were without most of their European-based players, managed to qualify for the tournament by trouncing Nepal, 7-0, in the final match in Muscat, Oman.
“I intend to see my job through,” Coelho said on the team’s arrival back in Seoul. “The KFA [Korean Football Assn.] can decide what they want to do after that.”
Coelho, formerly coach of Portugal, in January replaced Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who had coached South Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup.
“You can’t compare this South Korea team to the World Cup side,” Coelho said. “We have had to chop and change the lineup almost every game.
“What happened in Oman was a learning process for some of the younger players. We now have to ... put it behind us and move on.”
Stadium of Light
A capacity crowd of 65,000 attended the opening of the Estadio da Luz (Stadium of Light) in Lisbon, Portugal, to see perennial Portuguese champion Benfica defeat Nacional of Uruguay, 2-1, on Saturday night in a friendly.
Portugal’s 1966 World Cup hero Eusebio kicked the first ball at the new stadium, which cost $135 million and replaced the famous edifice of the same name that had lasted almost half a century.
The Stadium of Light will be the setting for five games at the 2004 European Championship, including the final on July 4.
European Monopoly
Gerhard Aigner, the chief executive of UEFA, European soccer’s ruling body, has lashed out at the continent’s wealthiest and most powerful clubs, saying they have distorted competitions by signing most of the leading players.
“The clubs have a hegemony strategy on the player market, they’ve got more than 200 national team players under contract,” Aigner said at a German soccer federation meeting in Frankfurt on Saturday.
“That way they can practically decide the winner of the European competitions among themselves.”
Arsenalovich?
Not long after being bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for $100 million in July, the English Premier League club Chelsea was being referred to in the British press as “Chelski.”
Now, reports from London indicate that Arsenal might be the target of another Russian billionaire.
The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that industrialist Vladimir Potanin, a former deputy prime minister of Russia, is considering investing as much as $120 million in the English team’s proposed new stadium in return for a stake in the club.
Unhappy Inter
Disgruntled Inter Milan fans, unhappy with their team’s mediocre start to the Italian season, staged a noisy protest outside San Siro stadium in Milan on Sunday before Inter’s 0-0 tie with AS Roma in Coach Alberto Zaccheroni’s first match in charge.
Zaccheroni last week replaced Argentine Hector Cuper, who was fired by owner Massimo Moratti, but it was Moratti who was the target of the fans’ wrath.
“No more alibis” and “Moratti fire yourself” were among the signs brandished by Inter fans.
MLS Finale
Brian McBride and Edson Buddle each scored two goals Sunday as the Columbus Crew came from two goals down to thrash the playoff-bound Chicago Fire, 6-2, in front of 19,404 at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, in Major League Soccer’s final regular-season game. Columbus did not make the playoffs.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
