Togo Coach Quits Over Dispute
Togo’s coach quit Saturday, throwing the West African team into turmoil days before its World Cup debut.
The cause of Otto Pfister’s decision was a dispute over pay between the players and the national federation that became so heated that Togo’s prime minister flew in late Friday to see whether he could help broker a compromise.
“When I started to be manager of Togo, I was promised that bonuses for the players would be cleared,” he told FIFAworldcup.com Saturday. “That is still not the case, so I decided to quit immediately. It’s a professional decision.
“However, in not managing a team at the World Cup, my life’s dream has been destroyed. But this is a situation I simply cannot work with.”
Togo plays South Korea on Tuesday in its opening game.
Pfister left the team’s hotel in the middle of the night with assistant trainer Piet Hamburg, Togo federation spokesman Messan Attolou said.
“He just said goodbye,” said Attolou, adding that Pfister left his bags at the hotel.
“Our coach resigned. He was in tears when he told us,” said midfielder Yao Kaka Aziawonou. “But life goes on. We have to try to boost our morale and motivation again. We have to carry on training.”
The team chose assistant coach Mawuena Kodjovi as the new coach but made it clear that Pfister would be welcomed back if he changed his mind.
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Costa Rica defender Gilberto Martinez is done at the World Cup because of tendinitis in his left leg.
“Gilberto is out because we studied the situation and determined there is no chance he will recover in the next 10 days,” Costa Rica Coach Alexandre Guimaraes said. “Gilberto, with the bravery we all know he has, admitted the situation” and agreed to step aside.
Martinez, standing next to the coach, said he was OK before the match with Germany on Friday.
“But as the game progressed I started to feel the pain,” he said.
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Besides losing to England on Saturday, Paraguay probably also has lost No. 1 goalkeeper Jacinto Villar.
Villar left in the eighth minute after tearing a muscle in his right thigh in the 1-0 opening loss. He was replaced by Aldo Bobadilla five minutes after an own goal by defender Carlos Gamarra.
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SATURDAY’S RESULTS
At Frankfurt
ENGLAND 1, PARAGUAY 0
England...1 0--1
Paraguay...0 0--0
First half--1, England, Gamarra 1, 3rd minute, own-goal. Second half--None.
Shots--England 13, Paraguay 7. Shots On Goal--England 5, Paraguay 2.
Yellow Cards--England, Gerrard, 19th; Crouch, 63rd. Paraguay, Valdez, 22nd.
Offsides--England 4, Paraguay 3. Fouls--England 13, Paraguay 13.
Referee--Marco Rodriguez, Mexico. Linesmen--Jose Luis Camargo, Mexico; Leonel Leal, Costa Rica.
A--48,000.
Lineups
ENGLAND: Paul Robinson; Ashley Cole, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville; Joe Cole (Owen Hargreaves, 83rd), Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham; Peter Crouch, Michael Owen (Stewart Downing, 56th).
PARAGUAY: Justo Villar (Aldo Bobadilla, 8th); Delio Toledo (Jorge Nunez, 82nd), Carlos Gamarra, Julio Cesar Caceres, Denis Caniza; Cristian Riveros, Carlos Paredes, Roberto Acuna, Carlos Bonet (Nelson Cuevas, 68th); Roque Santa Cruz, Nelson Valdez.
At Dortmund
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 0, SWEDEN 0
Trinidad and Tobago...0 0--0
Sweden...0 0--0
First half--None. Second half--None.
Shots--Trinidad and Tobago 6, Sweden 18. Shots On Goal--Trinidad and Tobago 2, Sweden 6.
Yellow Cards--Trinidad and Tobago, A.John, 15th minute; A.John, 46th; Yorke, 74th. Sweden, Larsson, 90th. Red Card--Trinidad and Tobago, A.John, 46th.
Offsides--Trinidad and Tobago 1, Sweden 2. Fouls--Trinidad and Tobago 10, Sweden 9.
Referee--Shamsul Maidin, Singapore. Linesmen--Prachya Permpanich, Thailand; Eisa Ghuloum, United Arab Emirates.
A--62,959.
Lineups
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Shaka Hislop; Avery John, Dennis Lawrence, Brent Sancho, Cyd Gray; Densill Theobald (Aurtis Whitley, 66th), Dwight Yorke, Christopher Birchall; Collin Samuel (Cornell Glen, 52nd), Stern John, Carlos Edwards.
SWEDEN: Rami Shaaban; Erik Edman, Teddy Lucic, Olof Mellberg, Niclas Alexandersson; Tobias Linderoth (Kim Kallstrom, 78th), Freddie Ljungberg, Christian Wilhelmsson (Mattias Jonson, 78th), Anders Svensson (Marcus Allback, 62nd); Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson.
At Hamburg
ARGENTINA 2, IVORY COAST 1
Argentina...2 0--2
Ivory Coast...0 1--1
First half--1, Argentina, Crespo 1, 24th minute. 2, Argentina, Saviola 1, 38th.
Second half--3, Ivory Coast, Drogba 1, 82nd.
Shots--Argentina 9, Ivory Coast 13. Shots On Goal--Argentina 4, Ivory Coast 4.
Yellow Cards--Argentina, Saviola, 41st; Heinze, 49th; Gonzalez, 81st. Ivory Coast, Eboue, 62nd; Drogba, 90th (injury time).
Offsides--Argentina 6, Ivory Coast 0. Fouls--Argentina 15, Ivory Coast 17.
Referee--Frank de Bleeckere, Belgium. Linesmen--Peter Hermans, Belgium; Walter Vromans, Belgium.
A--49,480.
Lineups
ARGENTINA: Roberto Abbondanzieri; Roberto Ayala, Juan Sorin, Gabriel Heinze, Nicolas Burdisso; Maxi Rodriguez, Esteban Cambiasso, Javier Mascherano, Juan Riquelme (Pablo Aimar, 90th, injury time); Javier Saviola (Luis Gonzalez, 75th), Hernan Crespo (Rodrigo Palacio, 64th).
IVORY COAST: Jean-Jacques Tizie; Arthur Boka, Abdoulaye Meite, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue; Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora, Kanga Akale (Bakary Kone, 62nd), Bonaventure Kalou (Aruna Dindane, 55th), Kader Keita (Arouna Kone, 77th); Didier Drogba.
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NOW YOU KNOW
Argentina’s 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast put it in good position in Group C, this year’s so-called Group of Death. But how much is it worth to finish first in that group, and what kind of toll does playing in the tournament’s toughest pool take? A look at how teams advancing out of previous Groups of Death have fared in subsequent rounds:
* 2002 Group F (Argentina, England, Nigeria, Sweden) -- Sweden finished first, and was eliminated in the round of 16. England was runner-up and lost in the quarterfinals.
* 1998 Group D (Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain) -- Nigeria finished first and Paraguay second; both were eliminated in the round of 16.
* 1994 Group E (Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Norway) -- Mexico won the group and was eliminated in the round of 16, as was Ireland. Italy advanced as a third-place team and lost in the championship game.
* 1990 Group F (Egypt, England, Ireland, Netherlands) -- England took first by winning the only game that didn’t end in a tie, and made it to the semifinals. The Netherlands lost in the round of 16, and Ireland in the quarterfinals.
* 1986 Group E (Denmark, Scotland, Uruguay, West Germany) -- Denmark won the group, then lost in the round of 16. West Germany was runner-up and lost in the championship game.
