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Friday,
June 28, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Koreans now have another dream
Germans as dangerous as ever Brazil make believers of skeptical fans
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Turkish Press hails
team’s achievement Nominations for Golden Ball World Cup is
dope free
Venus, Hewitt win; Clijsters ousted
England's Nick Knight lofts the ball against Sri Lanka during their Natwest triangular series match at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Thursday. — Reuters photo ‘Windies have ability to bounce back’ Shankar, Sahebani set
records
Patiala XI lift trophy
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Koreans now have another dream Gyeongju, June 27 Two days after its storybook run at the World Cup ended in a 1-0 loss to Germany, co-host South Korea was still glowing today with its feat — reaching the semifinals for the first time after going winless in five previous trips to soccer’s premier event. Coach Guus Hiddink and his squad are now determined to mark their standout performance by winning the third-place play off Saturday in Daegu against Turkey, which comes off from a 1-0 loss to Brazil in the other semifinal. After 1 1/2 days of rest, the squad resumed training in this ancient Korean capital. “Now the players, fans and organisers should make last-minute efforts for the consolation match,” said the English-language Korea Herald in an editorial. “Our dreams have realised. Now it’s time to prepare for another dream.” The duel with three-time winner Germany left South Korea with no sense of defeat. A large banner draping a building in central Seoul said it had already been a victory when the entire nation “got together as one,” referring to the outpouring of patriotism among millions of red-clad fans who filled streets on match days. The team’s achievement was a huge morale boost to South Koreans, who have suffered an inferiority complex, being squeezed between China and Japan, which often invaded and subjugated Korea. “No matter who wins the championship title, it is not an exaggeration to say that the biggest victor in this World Cup is South Korea,” said the daily Hankyoreh Shinmun. The World Cup triggered an unprecedented soccer and nationalistic zeal, with 7 million people flooding the streets during Tuesday’s game against Germany, waving national flags and chanting “Dae Han Min Kuk!” — or “Republic of Korea!” It even gave birth to a new term: “W-Generation,” a reference to Korean youth who networked themselves and gathered by the millions in spontaneous display of patriotism. They painted national flags on their faces, draped them over shoulders and wore them as shirts, skirts and scarves. Until the tournament, older Koreans, who have gone through poverty and deprivation following the 1950-53 Korean War, have complained that younger generations were unpatriotic and too individualistic, spoiled by the nation’s economic affluence. The public and the Press are unanimous in praising the exploits of the national team, which had achieved much more than anyone had expected and became the most successful Asian team ever at a World Cup. First-round wins over Poland and world No. 5 Portugal came either side of a 1-1 draw with the USA as the Koreans topped group D. Upsets over Italy and Spain followed in the second round and quarterfinals. Shrugging off controversies over questionable refereeing decisions, the Koreans rolled into the semifinals to be stopped by the Germans. Not since North Korea reached the quarterfinals in 1966 had any Asian nation even reached the second round. Hiddink, who was the first coach to lead two different nations to the World Cup semifinals, hoped South Korea’s World Cup success would usher in a renaissance for domestic soccer, which in recent years was eclipsed by baseball and basketball. The government is discussing adding six new clubs to the 10-club K-League. Six of the 10 World Cup host cities do not have their own soccer clubs, including the capital Seoul. Newspapers and authorities were also discussing naming one of the stadia after Hiddink, now a Korean hero. With only days to go before the tournament ends, there were also calls for South Koreans to regain their customary pragmatism. “It’s time to return to our normal life,” said the daily Hankook Ilbo. “Sport is just a life’s lubricant, not life itself.”
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Blunder sparks pandemonium Seoul, June 27 Shoppers in department stores cheered and World Cup organisers were flooded with phone calls after TV actress Choi Hwa-Jung wrongly announced that Germany had failed a drug test and been disqualified. But the raptures soon turned to anger. SBS Power FM, one of South Korea’s most popular stations, made several apologies and the Korean World Cup organising committee had to put out an official statement saying it was not true. Germany beat South Korea 1-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday ending the co-host’s dream run in the World Cup which had sparked enormous public interest and pride. Ms Choi received a mobile phone text message from her assistant who had been told by a friend that Germany had been disqualifed from Sunday’s final in Yokohama, the embarrassed radio station said. But there was panic in the studio when she immediately announced the "good news" on air on her daily talk show. SBS officials said production operators frantically gestured to Ms Choi to keep quiet but failed. "After receiving the message from her assistant, she became too excited and read it into the microphone," an SBS spokesman said. "There was a pandemonium in the main control room. About four minutes later, the message was confirmed to be false and she apologised four times for airing the wrong message without checking," he told AFP. Angry listeners inundated the SBS switchboard and its Internet site with protest calls and messages. Yonhap News Agency said hundreds of shoppers in a department store in Busan went into raptures after hearing the broadcast. News media, KOOC and government offices were all flooded with phone calls to find out if the news was right. KOWOC’s statement even went so far as to say that all the German players tested for drugs after the semifinal were negative.
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Germans as dangerous as ever Seoul, June 27 Franz Beckenbauer made the role his own when he arrived on the scene before the 1966 World Cup, where he starred in the final. Beckenbauer striding out of defence and sparking waves of German attacks was a frightening sight. The side coached by Beckenbauer in 1986 and 1990 relied very much on similar surges, although from midfield, by Lothar Matthaus - but it was Matthaus himself who slipped into the sweeper role as he entered the twilight of his career at the 1998 World Cup. That experiment proved less successful as the Germans crashed out to Croatia in the quarter-finals and the team was riven by discord as Matthaus, initially discarded as too old and too opinionated by then coach Berti Vogts, wrested his place from Olaf Thon. This year sees the Germans reinventing themselves as the “team with no defence” - or rather a different concept of one. Injuries to stalwarts Jens Nowotny and Christian Worns before the tournament have forced current coach Rudi Voller into a big rethink. Voller has fluctuated between a three-man and a four-man defence and Carsten Ramelow has, at least since the semifinal win over South Korea become the focal point as a link with midfield. In the semifinal against South Korea, Bayer Leverkusen’s Ramelow was so far forward to begin with. He almost gave the Germans the lead in the second minute with a snapshot before dropping back, the midfield also requiring support in an injury-plagued squad shorn of the talents of Sebastian Deisler and Mehmet Scholl. One of the first things Voller said when he took over was that “under me there won’t be any place for a sweeper.” Ramelow, who appeared to have an appetite for being the next best thing against the Koreans, is unlikely to have much of a licence to roam in a final against Brazil. But sweeper or no sweeper the German have conceded a miserly one goal in six games to date, while soring 14. Many people forecast Voller’s side wouldn’t get far here in the absence of Nowotny and Worns in particular. But they might reflect that both were on hand in a three-man defence in a September qualifier Germany would prefer to forget. The result? A 5-1 win in Munich for England. Somehow, the less weapons the Germans have in their armoury, the more dangerous they seem to become.
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Lucky penny which saw Germany through Berlin, June 27 A “lucky penny” that has been buried on or near the field by journalists from Bild newspaper at every Germany match since a decisive World Cup qualifying playoff match in Kiev last year has gone unbeaten in its eight outings: six wins and two draws. “Everyone in Germany believes in the magic of the
‘Glueckspfennig’,” said Klaus-Peter Witt, Deputy Editor of Bild newspaper that has kept readers regularly informed on the lucky penny’s status and whereabouts. “We came up with the idea in the newsroom before the crucial playoff against Ukraine,” he added, referring to the two do-or-die matches in November. “We buried the penny in the penalty area there and it has worked like a charm ever since.” Germany managed a 1-1 draw in Kiev before winning 4-1 at home to clinch a spot in the World Cup
finals. Bild, continental Europe’s best-selling paper with four million copies printed each day, put the penny (worth about half a US cent) into a safe after the November playoff and did not put it back on to a field until the World Cup started. Germany played poorly in several friendly matches in the meantime, losing to France, Argentina and even Wales, before the tournament began — defeats that considerably lengthened the odds for the three-times champions. With the penny on the field again when the World Cup began —buried five centimetres below the surface — Germany destroyed Saudia Arabia 8-0, drew with Ireland 1-1 and beat Cameroon 2-0 in the opening round before ousting Paraguay, the USA and South Korea by identical scores of 1-0 in the knockout stage. US coach Bruce Arena was even asked about the “lucky penny” by German journalists after Germany had won their quarter-final despite being completely outclassed. “Where was it when they lost to England 5-1?” Arena asked, not knowing the idea for the “lucky penny” was not born until three months after that humbling loss in Munich in September. “Does one penny really make a difference with all the money that the Germans earn?” Arena asked. “Maybe next time we’ll try a $100 bill.” Although Germans are by and large not superstitious, they do place some faith in the powers of piglets, chimney sweeps, four-leaf clovers and horseshoes as well as the “lucky penny.” And even though the penny and Deutschemark lost their status as legal tender in Germany with the introduction of the Euro in January, their attachment to the “Pfennig” has remained. “The lucky penny hasn’t lost its magic even though it’s no longer a legal currency,” Witt said. “Germans have long believed in the magic powers of the
Glueckspfennig. It’s a very old German tradition.” Witt said all the Germany players have asked Bild reporters to see and touch the lucky penny. Before their match against South Korea on Tuesday, Bild reporter Wolfgang Ruiner was caught by security police as he was trying to bury the lucky penny in the corner of the field in Seoul. “The officer snarled something in Korean and wanted to confiscate the famous coin,” Ruiner wrote. “But the penny was already buried safely under the grass.”
Ruiner handed the police officer a Korean 10 won coin instead and a picture of the two men smiling appeared in Bild on Tuesday. “The trick worked,” he said. “The cop took the wrong coin.” Witt said the lucky penny would be on the field again on Sunday in Yokohama but the exact location will be kept secret until after the match. “We’re keeping it in the hotel safe until then,” Witt said. “After that it will be put in a museum.”
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Kahn predicts German win
“I have a feeling we are going to be world champions,” said the Bayern Munich goalkeeper, though he admitted it was just a hunch. “We are up against the best individual players in the world - but we too have world class players. “The star individuals can’t necessarily beat us,” warned Kahn, who has conceded just one goal in six matches at the finals and who is desperate to win the trophy having suffered quarter-final exits for his country in silence sitting on the bench in 1994 and 1998. “Everyone knows if we want to beat them we will all have to give 100 per cent. Every player will have to play the game of his life,” Kahn warned. “A final is an extreme situation. The nervous pressure on you is enormous and the tiniest things will make all the difference.” Kahn says he is not worried about facing tournament top scorer Ronaldo and his samba sidekick Rivaldo, who has netted five times to Ronaldo’s six. “They are truly exceptional players. “But it’s nothing new to play the top players. “I respect them as world class stars but they have to go out there and show their abilities,” said the tall blond shot-stopper, who says the final is going to be a dream experience for players and fans alike. “This is a fantastic fixture. It’s the record champions against the three-time winners. “We can’t say it’s a ‘classic’ as we have never met in the World Cup. But it’s a dream final,” said Kahn.
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Brazil make believers of skeptical fans
Yokohama (Japan), June 27 After nearly failing to reach the World Cup, Brazil are back in the final against three-time winner Germany. Slowly, they are making believers out of disillusioned fans. The sudden outpouring of support at home has lifted the team’s morale, Brazil defender Roberto Carlos said. “We see the images from back home and it means a lot, it motivates us even more,” he said. “Every game we see the people in the street commemorating,” he added. “All Brazil is partying, and this is a source of pride for us.” And why not? The “Three R” attack of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho is scoring goals in bunches and resuscitating the “beautiful game.” The Brazilians have won all six of their games, outscored their opponents 16-3 and are now favoured to win a record fifth Cup title. After Ronaldo scored in the 49th minute of yesterday’s semi-final against Turkey to give Brazil a 1-0 win, he dedicated his goal to the faithful. “This goal is for me, for the Brazilian team and for the people who believed in me,” he said. “I am sure the last game will bring more happiness for our people.” But not everyone is convinced Brazil won’t let them down again. Fans haven’t forgotten the agony of Cup qualifying, the disaster of the Copa America, the fall from the pinnacle of the sport they feel they own. Brazil, the only team to qualify for every Cup, almost missed this one. They lost a record six games and didn’t clinch a spot until the final match with Venezuela. After a humiliating 0-2 loss to tiny Honduras in last year’s Copa America, Brazil fell to second, then third in FIFA’s world rankings. It was the first time since 1994 they weren’t No. 1. Granted, Brazil’s standards often seem impossibly high. Teams invariably are compared with the greats of the Pele era, when Brazil won the Cup in 1958, ‘62 and ‘70. They also won in ‘94, with a team that featured Bebeto, Romario and defence. But Brazilians felt it was missing the flair, the “Ole,” and consider the team a cut below the best. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has done little to fan the flames. He rates his team 7 on a scale of 10 - and that’s on a good day. “Our team is reasonable to good,” he said. “It’s no marvel, but we’re competitive.” At the World Cup, Brazil was slow to catch fire. The team trained in Ulsan, South Korea, in peaceful seclusion, very different from the cauldron of frenzied fans in the USA in ‘94 and France in ‘98. ZCZC The 12-hour time difference between Brazil and South Korea or Japan also threw fans off. Newspapers were always a day late with news, and not everyone was willing to get up at 3 a.m. to watch a game. But the team kept winning. A 2-1 victory over Turkey was followed by a 4-0 romp over China, a 5-2 shootout against Costa Rica and a harrowing 2-0 win over Belgium. When the Brazilians came from behind to beat England in a 2-1 thriller, they suddenly seemed for real. In Hamamatsu, a mob of some 2,000 raucous fans turned out for a Brazil practice, although many were young girls eager to catch a glimpse of 20-year-old heartthrob Kaka. Back in Brazil, banks open late and many schools cancel morning classes when Brazil plays at 8:30 p.m. in Japan - 8:30 a.m. in Rio. Unusual traffic jams occur around noon, when fans take to the streets to commemorate a win. Street vendors say sales are up for Brazilian flags, bras and jerseys, especially Ronaldo’s No. 9. Many city streets are painted in the national colours and festooned with streamers and team banners. “When Brazil plays with courage and desire, no one can beat us,” said President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who invited some guests over to watch yesterday’s semi-final at the Alvorada Palace, the official residence in the capital of Brasilia. Still, the players have few illusions about the wave of support. “If we win the title, there will be three months of euphoria, and then the demands will start again,” said Denilson. “That’s just the way it is.”
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Referee for final Yokohama, June 27 The 42-year-old is widely regarded as the best referee in the world. He was in charge for the 1999 European Cup final, the 1996 Olympic final and the England-Argentina first round game at this tournament. His linesmen will be Leif Lindberg of Sweden and Philip Sharp of England, FIFA announced today.
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Turkish Press hails team’s achievement Ankara, June 27 "Turkey is proud of you," the mass-circulation Sabah daily blared on its front-page following the 1-0 defeat by Brazil in the semi-finals. "You have made your mark on the World Cup with your hearts and your strength." The Turkish team made history by reaching the semifinals in only their second appearance at the finals and first in 48 years, triggering massive euphoria back at home where football is a national passion, and earning the players the status of heroes. "We thank you for putting Turkey among the top four in a World Cup which saw leading nations ousted," said another mass-circulation daily, Hurriyet, next to a photo of the team taking a bow to fans in the stadium in Saitama after the semifinal. "You are the champions in our hearts," it added. "We love you!" was the headline adorning the front page of the Yeni Safak daily while the liberal Radikal newspaper simply said: "Thank you boys". The newspapers urged the team to beat South Korea in Saturday’s match in Daegu, South Korea, and snatch the third place.
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Nominations for Golden Ball Yokohama (Japan), June 27 Michael Ballack, (Germany), Roberto Carlos, (Brazil), El Hadji Diouf, (Senegal), Fernando Hierro, (Spain), Hong Myung-bo, (South Korea), Oliver Kahn, (Germany), Rivaldo, (Brazil), Ronaldo, (Brazil), Ronaldinho, (Brazil), Hasan Sas, (Turkey).
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World Cup is
dope free Yokohama, June 27 “All 248 samples have been negative, including those of FIFA’s medical committee, after 62 of 64 matches. For the first time at a World Cup, doping controls included out-of-competition checks ahead of the tournament and blood testing after every game when two players from each team are selected at random to provide samples. D’Hooghe praised the speedy work of the doping laboratories, which were able to submit the results of tests conducted after Brazil’s semifinal win over Turkey just 12 hours after the match. “Happily, I have nothing but good news,” he said.
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Venus, Hewitt win; Clijsters ousted
London, June 27 Williams next meets Maureen Drake of Canada, who defeated American Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-2, for a place in the fourth Nine-time Grand Slam winner Monica Seles, the fourth seed from the USA, also moved into the third round with a straight sets 6-4, 6-0 win over Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios of Paraguay. After the drama of the shock departures on Wednesday of former champions Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi along with second seed Marat Safin, the early matches on the outside courts were always likely to suffer by comparison. Top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia defeated French qualifier Gregory Carraz 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to move into the third round. Hewitt now takes on Austria’s Julian Knowle who put out Finland’s 32nd seed Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. But the 21-year-old Aussie will have mixed emotions about his win as his victory was followed just moments later by a defeat for his girlfriend and fifth seed in the women’s event Kim Clijsters who lost 6-7 (5/7), 2-6 to Elena Likhovtseva of Russia. Meanwhile, Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero, the ninth seed, was also a high profile casualty losing in the second round to American lucky loser Jeff Morrison who won 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) in two hours and 15 minutes. Morrison, ranked 98 in the world, now takes on either veteran American Michael Chang or Dutch 18th seed Sjeng Schalken in the third round. Ferrero, the runner-up at the French Open just over two weeks ago, is the sixth of the top 10 seeds in the men’s singles to have been knocked out of the tournament following Marat Safin, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Thomas Johansson. Elsewhere, in the women’s event, last year’s runner-up Justine Henin, the sixth seeded Belgian, eased into the third round with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic and now faces Myriam Casanova of
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Bhupathi in 2nd round; Paes bows out London, June 26 Bhupathi and Max Miryani of Belarus, seeded third, beat Mardy Fish and Jeff Morrison of the USA in three straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Paes, pairing with Stephen Huss of Australia, waged a grim battle before going down to Byron Black of Zimbabwe and Robbie Koeing of South Africa. Paes and Huss lost first two sets 4-6, 4-6 but came back strongly to take the next two 7-5, 6-4. In the decider they fought hard but lost 5-7.
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England score 293 for six Trent Bridge, June 27 Stewart, back to the side after missing England’s tour to India and New Zealand earlier this year, anchored the innings and in company of another comeback man Ronnie Irani set the stage for Flintoff to unleash the onslaught against an average looking Sri Lankan bowling attack. Irani, playing for England after a gap of five years, scored a patient 39 and put on 95 for the
fifth wicket with Stewart, the senior most member of the side. The partnership was England’s highest for the fifth wicket against Sri Lanka. England received a double blow when skipper Nasser Hussain and ever-reliable Graham Thorpe fell in quick succession to Dilharo Fernando. Irani joined Stewart when the score was 104 for four and the prospect of reaching 250 was looking quite an uphill task. England: Trescothick c Sangakkara Knight lbw b Zoysa 20 Hussain b Fernando 32 Thorpe b Fernando 18 Stewart b Vaas 83 Irani c Jayawardene Flintoff not out 50 Collingwood not out 10 Extras (b-4 lb-4 nb-4 w-3) 15 Total
(six wickets, 50 overs) 293 Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-47, 3-103, 4-104, 5-199, 6-283. Bowling: Vaas 9-0-58-2, Zoysa 7-0-46-1, Fernando 8-0-46-2, Chandana 10-0-43-, Jayasuriya 10-0-51-0, Arnold 6-0-41-1.
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‘Windies have ability to bounce back’ St George’s (Grenada), June 27 The second Test, which starts tomorrow, is being played at Grenada’s National Cricket Ground, the first time the southernmost Windward Island - known as the Spice Isle - has hosted a five-day international. It is the eighth venue to be used in the Caribbean. Captain Carl Hooper, lambasted around the region for his team’s hapless performance in the first Test at the Barbados Kensington Oval, said his team had the strength to rebuild. "We were 1-0 down in the series against India and came back to win it. We just have to put together a big team effort," he said. The West Indies travelled to Grenada without injured pace bowler Merv Dillon but with the rest of the squad intact despite the 204-run defeat, the first time New Zealand have ever won a Test in the Caribbean. Dillon will probably be replaced by 32-year-old Cameron Cuffy, rested from the Barbados match, but there is also a possibility that leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo may replace seamer Adam Sanford, who suffered at the hands of New Zealand’s batsmen in the first Test.The batting line-up is unlikely to change. "There’s no point in chopping and changing," said Hooper. But the 35-year-old Guyanese captain said he would be seeking a better mental attitude from the batsmen, most of whom threw away their wickets with one day shots. Coach Roger Harper has defended 22-year-old batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was out to identical, mis-timed hooks in both innings, including a first innings golden duck.
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Shankar, Sahebani set records Chennai, June 27 Shankar created a new meet record of 51.68 seconds, erasing the two-year-old mark of 52.24 seconds achieved by Sahib Singh (Punjab Police) in August 1999 in Bangalore. The 20-year-old student of Nizam College, Hyderabad, sped past Abhishek Pandey (UP) as the latter slowed down at the last hurdle. Pandey clocked 51.88 seconds for the silver and Rakesh Kanwar was third. However, Asian star Sahebani’s effort of winning the gold in the 400m (Hurdles) seemed to be even better. Trailing behind Tamil Nadu’s Rosalin Arokiamary till the third bend, the diminutive Oram burst ahead of the pack of eight runners to win with aplomb lowering M.K. Asha’s record of 57.70 seconds set in August ‘99 at Bangalore. While another Andhrite Pramod Tiwari (65.87) won accolades bagging the gold in hammer throw, Manipur’s Gojen Singh (14:14.64) completed a double, bagging the 5000m gold. He had earlier won the 10,000m gold. Punjab Police’s Beant Kaur too earned a double, adding the 5000m gold to the 10,000m gold she had already won.
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Pawan Kapoor to play in USA Chandigarh, June 27 Pawan Kapoor, the first and only player from this region to get elite ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) ranking will be playing in the USA for a month. The tournaments which will start from June 30 will be played in different parts of the USA. Pawan Kapoor, an employee of CITCO, left for the USA yesterday. His participation in this prestigious tournament, in which players from over 40 countries will be playing, will give him extensive international exposure. |
Patiala XI lift trophy Patiala Brief scores: Patiala XI: 184 all out ( Tanmeet Bawa 41, Harjinder Singh 17, Sandeep Sharma 33, Gurmeet Sawney 23, Gaurav 4 for 26, Girish 2 for 32, Saurav 1 for 30, Varun 1 for 44) Chandigarh XI: 138 all out (Simrat Bawa 26, Sumit 23, Anupam 19, Rajvinder Singh 3 for 28, Manvinder Singh 2 for 21, Gurmeet Sawney 2 for 14, Tarun 1 for 16). |
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Seoul, June 27
