France Loses Edge, Ties Korea

By Grahame L. Jones

June 19, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

LEIPZIG, Germany —

The French sporting press can be brutal when it comes to criticizing Les Bleus, as France’s national soccer team is known.

After France had been tied, 0-0, by Switzerland on Tuesday in its opening World Cup match, the 1998 world champions were savaged by the media.

“Pathetic enough to make you cry,” wrote France Soir.

“No rhythm, no inspiration, barely a chance,” echoed Le Figaro.

And so it went.

That sort of criticism might be tame, however, compared with what Coach Raymond Domenech and his underachieving players could face today after another uninspired performance here Sunday night during a 1-1 tie with South Korea.

France got a goal in the ninth minute from Thierry Henry, after Claude Makelele’s pass put Sylvain Wiltord behind the Korean defense. Wiltord’s subsequent pass allowed Henry to beat goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae from close range.

After that, though, the match spiraled downhill, with neither team able to lift it back to a level befitting the World Cup. Even Zinedine Zidane, the iconic French captain who led Les Bleus to their 1998 triumph, was a shadow of himself, doing little more than strolling through the game.

It was left to the Koreans, surprising fourth-place finishers in the 2002 World Cup, which they co-hosted with Japan, to send the sellout crowd of 43,000 home with something to talk about.

With less than 15 minutes to play, the Koreans began a period of sustained pressure on goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and the French defense. Their reward came in the 81st minute.

Seol Ki-Hyeon swung the ball in from the right flank and Cho Jae Jin headed it back across the front of the net, but Barthez failed to come off his line to grab it. He could get only his fingertips to the ball when Park Ji-Sung toe-poked it over him.

The ball dropped into the right side of the net before defender William Gallas could try to clear it.

Just like that, it was 1-1, and the drumbeat of support the Korean team had received from their large fan contingent became a crescendo of sound in Leipzig’s Central Stadium.

It rekindled memories of 2002, when its red-clad fans carried South Korea all the way to the semifinals. This time, though, it might not be enough.

South Korea leads its group with four points, a total Switzerland can match today if it defeats Togo. The Koreans’ final match is against the Swiss, and it will be decisive because France, with two points, will be a favorite to pick up three more when it plays Togo.

At least that’s the theory.

“I feel like my players do, I’m disappointed,” Domenech said.

France should have won, he said, if not for an error by Mexican referee Benito Archundia, who failed to see that Patrick Vieira’s header shortly after the half-hour mark had crossed the line before bouncing back out of the goal off goalkeeper Lee’s right thigh, the ball then being cleared by Lee Ho.

“We scored a second time, but the referee did not recognize that,” Domenech said. “I repeat this. We did score a second goal.”

The record books will not show it, but they will show Zidane getting his second yellow card in as many games when he fouled Choi Jin-Cheul in the closing moments.

That means Zidane, who has said he will retire after the World Cup, will sit out France’s game against Togo in Cologne on Friday.

A French journalist pointed out that if France fails to win that game and is eliminated in the first round, just as it was in 2002, Zidane would already have played his final match for Les Bleus.

Said Domenech: “You are a pessimist, but I’m an optimist. There is another match. We just have to win, and then you will be proved wrong.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

At a glance

RESULTS

* Japan 0, Croatia 0

* Brazil 2, Australia 0

* France 1, South Korea 1

STAR

* Adriano, Brazil, put the defending champions in the lead in the 49th minute with a pinpoint shot past Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

TODAY’S MATCHES

* Switzerland vs. Togo

6 a.m. PDT, ESPN2 and Ch. 34