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Thursday,
May 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Stage set
for extravaganza Blatter
re-elected FIFA chief Security
scare due to name mix-up Upsets,
near-upsets of opening matches
Lucrative
bonus announced for teams |
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World
Cup not for weak-hearted World
Cup highlights on Doordarshan Ministry to take up telecast issue
India
kick off tour on June 29
‘Test’ abandoned Agassi, Safin win; Roddick bows out Sponsorship
for Patiala jr golfer
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Stage set for extravaganza
Seoul, May 29 Years of planning — and squabbling — between co-hosts Japan and South Korea will reach its climax in the June 30 final at Yokohama’s stunning state-of-the-art 72,000 stadium near Tokyo. When the dust settles, the 17th world champions will have been crowned. But in the weeks before then, another chapter in the four-yearly tournament’s captivating history will have been written. And if this year’s tournament proves to be as gripping as its incident-packed build-up, then Korea-Japan 2002 could well enter the annals as a classic. From Sweden’s training ground punch-up to Ireland’s sensational sacking of skipper Roy Keane, the past few weeks has served as a reminder that the World Cup is unrivalled as a source of sustained sporting drama. Only seven nations have gained entrance to the exclusive club of countries who have won a World Cup: Brazil, Italy, Argentina, France, Germany, England, Uruguay. France have, however, looked short of their best form in warm-up matches, and an injury to the talismanic Zinedine Zidane has left the holders twitching with anxiety. It is a fact France tend to fare better when Zidane is fit and running midfield. Since 1994, France have played 27 matches with Zidane in the team and never lost. In 16 matches without the Real Madrid star, France’s record is less impressive: eight wins, five draws and three defeats. With or without Zidane, France are still fancied to win their group, setting up a second round match against the runner-up from group F, the first phase’s ‘group of death’, comprising Argentina, England, Sweden and Nigeria. Argentina look a good bet to emerge from their group as winners, avoiding a heavyweight showdown with the French. In the aftermath of their 5-1 thrashing of Germany in qualifying last year, the resurgent English were suddenly being talked about as potential World Cup winners. But a series of injuries to key players has tempered expectations amongst England’s fans. “We’re not the favourites,” manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said. “We may be so in England but not outside this country. But I think we can be ‘the dark horse’.” The fitness of England captain David Beckham, expected to play in Sunday’s opener against Sweden after recovering from a broken foot, will be key to English hopes. With England and Germany expected to be among the also-rans, Europe’s other most likely challengers are Italy. Manager Giovanni Trapattoni has retained the core of the side who came within seconds of defeating France to win Euro 2000 and the Azzurri’s patient, passing game should be well-suited to the energy-sapping climactic conditions. Italy should comfortably finish top of group G, where they face Ecuador, Croatia and Mexico. A relatively straightforward route in the knockout phase gives them an excellent chance of reaching the finals. Brazil, meanwhile, have also benefited from a kind draw, where they face China, Turkey and Costa
Rica. Most interest for the Brazilians, who have slowly gathered momentum since the turn of the year, will focus on the form of Ronaldo — now back to fitness after his mysterious breakdown before the 1998 World Cup final. Beyond the established powers, this year’s World Cup sees debut appearances for China, Ecuador, Slovenia and Senegal. China’s progress will be followed feverishly by around 700 million fans in the world’s most populous nation alone, though Bora Milutinovic’s side will surpass all expectations if they manage to make it beyond the group stage. Africa’s challenge at the finals is spearheaded by a Cameroon team regarded as the finest that the continent has ever produced. Back-to-back victories at the 2000 and 2002 African Nations Cups sandwiched by a superb gold medal in the Sydney Olympics, have left the ‘Indomitable Lions’ confident of emulating their famous Roger Milla-inspired class of 1990. For the two host nations the start of play in the tournament will see a new phase in years of mutual sparring over arrangements for the World Cup. Both Japan and South Korea will be itching to progress into the last 16, with each side anxious to out-do the other on the pitch. Tournament organisers have left nothing to chance on the security front, promising a ring of steel defence in the wake of last year’s September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA. No-fly zones will be enforced in airspace near World Cup stadia, and teams have been given blanket protection since arriving in Japan and South Korea.
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Blatter
re-elected FIFA chief Seoul, May 29 Mr Blatter, 66, received 139 votes to beat African soccer chief Issa Hayatou, who got 56 votes, at the congress of FIFA member nations in the South Korean capital. The vote came after hours of angry debate between Mr Blatter’s supporters and detractors. Mr Blatter had received strong support from North and South America, the Caribbean and north Africa, where countries point to the work he has done to benefit developing countries and to get the World Cup to Africa.
AP |
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Security scare due to name mix-up Seoul, May 29 For South Korean police, when the name is Smith, it is the cause of the first security scare of the World Cup. On Sunday, a shiver went through Cup organisers, already on high alert because of September 11’s suicide attacks on the USA, when a wrong media accreditation was issued. The accreditation was for Sunday Mirror reporter Michael Paul Smith, known as Paul Smith and the British sports reporter of the year. But instead the accreditation ended up in the hands of Paul Michael Smith, an American, working for a company providing software programmes for the cup, who also had applied for a pass. A police official said on Wednesday the clerk who issued the accreditation failed to properly match the name and passports leading to the mix-up which was only discovered when journalist Smith arrived to pick up his pass. “This American will send back the media accreditation card,” the official told Reuters. This may not be much consolation for the Sunday Mirror man who, a colleague told Reuters on Tuesday, spent two hours being questioned by Korean police over the mix-up before being released. England called off their media plans on Monday over the mix-up.
Reuters |
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Upsets, near-upsets of opening matches
Yokohama, May 29 But don’t look for many goals when defending champions France face Senegal on Friday as the curtain comes up on the 17th World Cup — the first in Asia and the first co-hosted by two countries — before 65,000 in the South Korean capital. By standards of most World Cup opening games, Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Scotland four years ago was a goalfest. It was the first since 1962 when one side managed to score twice, and Brazil needed a Scottish own-goal 20 minutes from the end to manage that. What’s the most frequent outcome of a World Cup opener? How about 0-0, which happened four straight times from 1966 to 1978. The first World Cup took place in 1930, but the tradition of the defending champions playing in the inaugural game didn’t begin until 1974. Since then, they’ve won only two of seven times. And in that stretch, the champions have never gone on to repeat. That’s ominous news for France, who also face the absence of midfielder Zinidine Zidane — the world’s greatest player — from at least the first game with a thigh injury. France are trying to become only the third country to successfully defend their title, and the first since Brazil repeated in 1962. Italy won in 1934 and ‘38. Anything less than a victory for France will constitute a monumental surprise, since Senegal are joining Slovenia, Ecuador and China as the four first-time teams in the 32-team finals. Here’s a look at a few World Cup shocks. The first World Cup shocker came in 1938 in France when Switzerland held favoured Germany to a 1-1 draw. The Swiss refused to give the Nazi salute when the German anthem was played, then came back to beat Germany five days later 4-2. The first modern shock was in 1966 when highly favoured England managed only a 0-0 draw at home at storied Wembley Stadium against Uruguay - the two-time champions (1930 and ‘50). In the second stunner, the English went on to win their only World Cup title. In 1982, Argentina fielded nine starters who had won the cup four years earlier, but a determined Belgium held Maradona in check and stunned 95,000 in Barcelona’s Nou Camp with a 1-0 victory on a 63rd-minute goal by Erwin Vandenbergh. In more of a surprise than shock, champions Italy drew 1-1 with Bulgaria in 1986 in Mexico City when Nasko Sirakov equalised in the 85th after Alessandro Altobelli had put Italy ahead. Cameroon upset Argentina 1-0 in the 1990 opener on Omam Biyick’s goal in the 67th minute in Milan, the start of the Africans’ historic road to the quarterfinals and the first hint of an emerging power. The Africans also did it with two players sent off — Kan Biyick and Benjamin Massing.
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Lucrative bonus announced for teams
Seoul, May 29 In a big bucks business like professional soccer, no one at the World Cup is playing for free and winning the game’s most prestigious prize comes with a lucrative bonus attached. Spain’s squad could be the biggest money winners if they lift the trophy, with each player standing to reap a $ 445,000 bonus from their national federation if they go all the way. Coach Jose Antonio Camacho would get double that amount if Spain win the tournament. France are offering their players $ 290,000 each if they retain the title, one third more than they earned in 1998 for winning the tournament. They will get $ 190,000 if they finish runners-up and, like many of the other teams at the month-long tournament beginning on Friday, nothing if they bow out in the first round. Germany will reward their players with a more modest $ 85,000 each if they win the World Cup, while Italy’s cash-strapped federation has actually cut the bonus on offer for victory from the sum it dangled in front of the squad in France four years ago. The Italians still stand to pocket $ 160,000 each if they bring the World Cup home for a record-equalling fourth time. ‘’It’s not a problem that it is less than it was four years ago,’’ midfielder Angelo Di Livio said earlier this month after helping to negotiate the prospective payout. ‘’Personally, I would pay out of my own pocket to win the World Cup.’’ Brazil, the only country to win the World Cup four times, have offered their players $ 175,000 each for a fifth title. Russia, apart from their bonuses, have an added incentive from a private benefactor who has offered a $ 70,000 Porsche to the team’s man-of-the-match in every game the side win. Bonus payments to internationals have soared in the past decade, with even smaller nations playing at the World Cup digging deep to come up with monetary morale boosters — sometimes under duress. Cameroon agreed to fork out a reported $ 42,000 to each member of the squad after the players refused to board a plane in Paris en route to Japan in a dispute over bonuses for qualifying that delayed their arrival by four days. ‘’We just wanted to rectify things so that from now on greater respect would be given to us,’’ Cameroon captain Rigobert Song told the newspaper Mutations after the row was resolved. Nigeria were forced to call off a friendly against Egypt in January after the players refused to travel to Cairo, saying they had not been paid a promised $ 70,000 team bonus for reaching the World Cup. Co-hosts South Korea, who have never progressed beyond the first round of a World Cup, are promising big money for any measure of success for their team. Each member of the squad will get $ 175,000 for making the last 16, with the team’s Dutch coach Guus Hiddink standing to pocket a reported 1.8 million dollars if he defies all the odds and takes the side to World Cup triumph. Another foreign coach, Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, will add $ 730,000 to his $ 3.6 million annual pay cheque if England win the World Cup for the first time since 1966. The England players are on a promise from their football association of $ 360,000 each for victory, aside from what they stand to gain from personal sponsorship deals. The vast sums involved — one British newspaper said Eriksson alone would earn $ 14.5 million this summer from private endorsement contracts — have led to charges that the World Cup has become as much a tale of greed as glory. Eriksson had to fend off local criticism over bonuses when he and his squad arrived in Japan, the other tournament co-host. ‘’I can assure everyone in Japan and Korea, and our supporters back home, that we are not talking about money,’’ he said last week. ‘’We have other people to discuss money and it has not entered our heads since we arrived.’’
Reuters |
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World Cup not for weak-hearted
Paris, May 29 Top-level football can be a life-shortening experience - not for the players, but for the people who watch it. Researchers at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands, were astonished when they studied mortality statistics for June 22, 1996, the day when the Dutch football team was knocked out of the European Championships by France. Fourteen extra deaths from heart attack or stroke occurred among men on that day compared with the five-day period before and after the match and on June 22 in 1995 and 1997 - an increase of 50 per cent. Intense excitement, smoking and overeating, all part of the smorgasbord of pleasures for the avid fan, are classic triggers for a killer cardiac event. Added to that is booze, which can make a lethal combination when added to football, causing fights and car accidents. For the more patient, there is the option of death by fast food — and men, again, are the risk group. Binge eating and no
exercise quickly builds up fatty cholesterol in the blood and a “spare tyre” around the waist that is unsightly but also a potentially serious strain on the heart and other organs. “Traditionally, it’s men who are watching football, and they are more likely to stray away from the healthier eating messages than women are,” says Wendy Doyle, a doctor with the British Dietetic Association. “Women are likely to be aware of what they are eating and what they are consuming, whereas men really don’t care,” she said. The typical fan does not inhabit the land of organic veggie soup followed by a nut rissole and a leafy side salad. His fare of choice is an artery-clogging fiesta of easy-to -grab sausages, salted peanuts, crisps (US potato chips) and cheesy snacks, greasy dips and ice cream and chocolate, usually washed down with lashings of beer. Guzzling wine instead of beer is often considered an intrepid concession to the healthy “Mediterranean diet.”
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World Cup highlights on Doordarshan
New Delhi, May 29 While viewers, having access to satellite television, will see the live telecasts on TEN Sports, those having no cable connection can see an hour-long capsule daily giving the highlights of the matches. In addition, the opening ceremony will be shown in full on deferred telecast basis from 11:30 pm on May 31. The two semifinal matches on June 25 and June 26 and the final on June 30 will be shown on deferred telecast basis from 11:00 pm. The match highlights will be shown from 11 pm to midnight, and there will be repeat telecasts on the 12 regional channels.
UNI |
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Ministry to take up telecast issue Koyilandy, Kerala, May 29 “We want to develop a craze for football also in our country,’’ Union Sports Minister Uma Bharti told newspersons here today. Several parts of the country are likely to miss the telecast with Abdul Rehman Bukhatir’s Ten Sports adopting a tough stand on the issue of beaming signals of the World Cup and demanding more money. She said the Centre was planning to rope in the private sector in a big way for the promotion of sports in India. The Centre had already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FICCI for ensuring financial assistance.
UNI |
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Mongia fashions seven-wicket win
Bridgetown, Barbados, May 29 Chasing a victory target of 186 runs in 49 overs India reached 187 for the loss of three wickets in 43.5 overs. Mongia was well supported by Ganguly who scored 41 while Sachin Tendulkar who came in to bat at No. 4 was unbeaten on 34. Mongia hit 9 fours. Earlier, Carl Hooper hit an unbeaten 76 as West Indies were bowled out for 186. The game was reduced to 49 overs each as rain continued to disrupt the series with a 25-minute interruption at the Kensington Oval. The first two matches of the five-match series were washed out without a ball being bowled in Jamaica. Openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds started slowly, bringing up 38 in the first 10 overs before debutant paceman Tinu Yohannan struck two quick blows in his first spell of 7-1-22-2. Hinds fell for 15 dragging a ball that was angling away from him onto his stumps. Gayle, who had driven Yohannan for two glorious drives over extra cover, then flicked him straight to Dinesh Mongia at square leg for 16 as West Indies slumped to 45 for two. They were soon 53 for three after Brian Lara, hoping to hit back after a lacklustre show in the recent Test series, hit off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to mid-wicket where Mohammad Kaif took a sharp catch inches from the ground. Lara made five. Skipper Hooper and Sarwan rebuilt the innings with 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Hooper, who had top-scored in the Test series with 579 runs, swept Harbhajan for a six over mid-wicket that landed on the roof of the Kensington Stand. The 35-year-old raised his 50, off 49 balls, with a single to long-on. But wickets started to tumble once Sarwan was bowled for 44 by occasional off-spinner Virender Sehwag with a ball that clipped his pad and crashed into leg-stump. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was run out for five after a direct hit from Tendulkar at point and makeshift wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid stumped left-hander Ryan Hinds for three. Ridley Jacobs edged to Dravid for a duck to give Yohannan his third wicket. Ajit Agarkar mopped up the tail as seven wickets fell for 46 runs.
Reuters Scoreboard
West Indies: Gayle c Mongia b Yohannan 16 W. Hinds b Yohannan 15 Sarwan b Sehwag 44 Lara c Kaif b H. Singh 5 Hooper not out 76 Chanderpaul run out 5 R. Hinds st Dravid b Sehwag 3 Jacobs c Dravid b Yohannan 0 Dillon b Agarkar 2 Collymore lbw b Agarkar 1 Cuffy b Agarkar 0 Extras: (lb-5 nb-1 w-13) 19 Total: (all out, 44.5 overs) 186 FoW: 1-38 2-45 3-53 4-140 5-155 6-162 7-164 8-182 9-186 Bowling: Yohannan 10-1-33-3 (w-4), Zaheer 8-2-31-0 (w-5), Agarkar 8.5-1-36-3 (w-4), Harbhajan 7-0-22-1, Ganguly 3-0-20-0 (nb-1), Mongia 2-0-16-0, Sehwag 6-1-23-2. India: Ganguly c Hooper b Gayle 41 Sehwag c Sarwan b Dillon 21 Mongia c Chander b R. Hinds 74 Tendulkar batting 34 Dravid batting 9 Extras: 8 Total: (3 wkts in 43.5 overs) 187 FoW: 1-41, 2-109, 3-166. Bowling: Cuffy7-0-34-0, Dillon10-0-30-1, Collymore 6-0-28-0, R. Hinds 5.5-0-34-1, Hooper 7-0-25-0. Gayle 8-0-34-1.
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India kick off tour on June 29 Mumbai, May 29 According to the cricket board itinerary released here today, the opening game of the series will be played between England and Sri Lanka, the third team in the fray, on June 27 at Trent Bridge under lights. On June 30, India will play Sri Lanka at AMP Oval while on July 4 they will take on England for the second time at Durham under floodlights and two days later they will play Sri Lanka at Edgbaston. The Indians will play their last two league matches on July 9 (against England at AMP Oval) and July 11 (against Sri Lanka at Bristol under lights) before the final on July 13 at the Lord’s. India will also play four Test matches against England after the triangular series at the Lord’s (July 25-29), Trent Bridge (August 8-12), Headingley (August 22-26) and at AMP Oval (September 5-9) before leaving for home on September 10. |
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‘Test’ abandoned
Colombo, May 29 The Sri Lankan Cricket Board said here today that the itinerary had been revised to include two more one-dayers after the three-Test series was ruined by rains. The first two one-day matches will be played as a double-header on May 31 and June 1 at the Police Park in Colombo. The third and fourth, on June 3 and 4, have been shifted to the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium at Dambulla, about 130 km from the capital. The last
one-dayer would be played on June 6 at the R Premadasa Stadium here, the board said.
PTI
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Agassi, Safin win; Roddick bows out
Paris, May 29 Fourth-seeded Agassi wasted no time dismissing French qualifier Eric Prodon 6-3 6-3 6-1, while Russia’s number two seed Marat Safin came away the 6-4 2-6 7-6 (9/7) 6-4 winner over Michael Llodra. The fourth-seeded American, who took two weeks off after winning in Rome, will meet with Spaniard David Sanchez in the next round, as he bids for an eighth Grand Slam title and second in Paris. Former US Open champion Safin faces Olivier Rochus of Belgium who beat Hungary’s Attila Savolt 6-4 7-6 (7/0) 6-2. American hopeful Andy Roddick, seeded 13th, crashed out in the first round losing 4-6 7-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 to Australian Wayne Arthurs. On kids’ day at Roland Garros, the 19-year-old Roddick bowed to a player 12 years older than him, who had already made an impression in Paris last year by reaching the round of 16. Top seed Jennifer Capriati and third seed Serena Williams advanced to the second round as Russian beauty Anna Kournikova crashed at the first hurdle.
World number one Capriati looked comfortable as she launched her title defence wrapping up her first round tie 6-3 6-4 against fellow American Marissa Irvin in a match suspended at 4-2 overnight because of bad weather. Capriati now meets another American Amy Frazier in the next round. A colourful Williams also eased into the second round with a straight sets win over Slovak Martina Sucha. The sun breaking through the clouds for the first time since the tournament got underway was hard to compete with the outfit of Williams who came away 6-3 6-0 winner in 60mins. Kournikova was also in yellow, but the 20-year-old’s miserable run continued when she was ground into the dust by wildcard Christina Wheeler, with the 193-ranked Australian coming away 6-4 6-3 winner in 76 minutes. World number 54 Kournikova became distracted after hurting her finger at 3-3 in the second set and took time out to receive treatment. Three-time champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was also packing her bags as the veteran Spaniard suffered her worst finish in 16 years competing at Roland Garros. The No 15 seed crashed out 6-0, 6-1 to fellow Spaniard Marta Marrero. Sanchez-Vicario, winner here 1989, 1994 and 1998, went out in the second round last year. Seventh seed Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia defeated Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6-4 6-2 and faces either Conchita Martinez of Spain or Maria Elena Camerin of Italy. Former champion Mary Pierce of France, making her comeback from a backand wrist injury ousted Kazak Irina Selyutina 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the second round.
AFP |
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Sponsorship
for Patiala jr golfer New Delhi, May 29 |
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Hot weather soccer at Mandi New Delhi, May 29 |
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