Monthly Archives: June 2002

By Ridge Mahoney in Seoul Pitfall or pushover? The Polish team that faces the United States Friday as Group D of the World Cup concludes could be either one, or a little bit of both. Unlike the USA, which can advance to the second round with a tie, Poland is without points and hope. It […]

Mia Hamm scored the winning goal upon her return on Wednesday, lifting the Washington Freedom to a 2-1 victory over visiting Boston in her first match in seven months. The Freedom forward, sidelined by a long-standing knee injury that required surgery in February, made her 2002 debut in the 66th minute, coming on for Jacqui […]

GROUP C: Brazil romps past Costa Rica (5-2) * Brazil's romp against the Ticos, who created numerous chances but couldn't convert enough to overcome their goal-difference disadvantage to Turkey, makes the Brazilians the tournament's highest scoring team along with Germany. The Brazilians and Germans each notched 11 goals in their three first-round games. * ''Well, […]

June 3 in Ulsan Brazil 2 Turkey 1. Goals: Ronaldo 50, Rivaldo pen. 87; Sas 47+. Brazil — Marcos, Lucio, Roque Junior, Edmilson, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Silva, Juninho Paulista (Vampeta, 72), Ronaldinho (Denilson, 67), Rivaldo, Ronaldo (Luizao, 73). Turkey — Rustu, Bulent (Umit D., 66), Fatih, Alpay, Tugay (Arif, 88), Basturk (Ilhan, 66), Umit […]

Eastern Conference TEAM GP W L T P GF GA Chicago 11 5 4 2 17 19 14 Columbus 11 4 5 2 14 15 17 D.C. United 10 4 5 1 13 14 16 MetroStars 10 3 5 2 11 13 16 New England 11 3 7 1 10 17 24 Western Conference San […]

June 12 in Foxboro New England 1 Columbus 2 (OT). Goals: Ralston (Serna, Franchino) 11; McCarty (Denton) 20, Buddle (Perez) 101+. New England — Brown, Cullen, Hernandez, Franchino, Semedo (Chacon, 45), Heaps, Kamler, Rooney, Ralston, Twellman, Serna. Yellow cards: Semedo 20, Heaps 45, Rooney 72. Columbus — Busch, Oughton, McCarty, Dunseth, Torres, Denton (Leitch, 66), […]

On Wednesday in Seoul, during his daily press briefing, U.S. coach Bruce Arena discussed his decision-making process in choosing a starting lineup for Friday's game against Poland. He commented on Poland's strengths, the level of Group D competition, John O'Brien's performance, support from home — and more. Bruce Arena On whether he would not start […]

By Scott French, Senior Editor The long wait for WUSA fans appears over. Mia Hamm, who hasn't played in a match since the Unity Games benefits last November, is slated to see limited action when her Washington Freedom plays host to Boston tonight at RFK Stadium, the first of 15 midweek WUSA games. Hamm underwent […]

Poland has no chance of advancing to the second round, but U.S. defender Eddie Pope expects the Poles to come out fiercely against the USA on Friday (7:30 am ET/ESPN & Univision). Eddie Pope, U.S. defender On whether his team is uncomfortable with the tag of ''favorite'' in the match against Poland on Friday: ''I […]

By Ridge Mahoney in Seoul Theories abound about why so many traditional powers are struggling at the 2002 World Cup. This is the first one to be played in Asia and the sights and sounds of South Korea and Japan carry a certain degree of culture shock. Time differences to native lands and heat have […]

Wednesday, June 12 (7:00 pm ET) COLUMBUS (3-5-2, 11 points) at NEW ENGLAND (3-6-1, 10 points) (TV: Fox Sports New England) Key Players Out: Columbus — F Brian McBride (World Cup), D Mike Lapper (sprained knee-L), D Mike Clark (strained hamstring); New England – Carlos Llamosa (U.S. National Team). Referee: Ricardo Salazar.

Thursday, June 13 in Yokohama (7:30 am ET) Group C: CROATIA (1-0-1, 3 pts., 2-2 goal difference) vs. ECUADOR (0-0-2, 0 pts., 1-4 goal difference) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Telefutura 7:30 am ET) Croatia remained in contention with its comeback win over Italy last Saturday. It can advance with a win, tie or even a loss, […]

Wednesday, June 12 (7:00 pm ET) BOSTON (2-3-4, 10 points) at WASHINGTON (2-4-3, 9 points) (TV: CSN; AT&T 3) Key Players Out: Boston – F Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (foot surgery); Washington – M Bai Jie (L MCL strain). Referee: Sandra Hunt.

Thursday, June 13 in Oita (7:30 am ET) Group G: MEXICO (2-0-0, 6 pts. 3-1 goal difference) vs. ITALY (1-0-1, 3 pts., 3-2 goal difference) (TV: Live, ESPN, Univision 7:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura 12:30 pm ET/PT, ESPN 3 pm, ESPN Classic, June 15, 1 am ET) Mexico controls its own destiny. A win or […]

Thursday, June 13 in Suwon (2:30 am ET) Group C: BRAZIL (2-0-0, 6 pts. 6-1 goal difference) vs. COSTA RICA (1-1-0, 4 pts., 3-1 goal difference) (TV: Live, ESPN, Univision 2:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura 10 am ET/PT, ESPN2, 7 pm ET) Brazil is already through and plans on resting its three players — Roque […]

Thursday, June 13 in Seoul (2:30 am ET) Group C: TURKEY (0-1-1, 1 pt., 2-3 goal difference) vs. CHINA (0-0-2, 0 pts., 0-6 goal difference) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Telefutura 2:30 am ET) The late goals the Turks gave up to Brazil and Costa Rica are the difference between four points and one point. They need […]

GROUP F: Sweden ousts Argentina with tie (1-1) * Argentina had been given, along with France, the best odds to win the World Cup. The Argentines have followed France to a first-round elimination. * ''This is the worst moment of my career. I'm sorry to the people in Argentina, who expected so much of the […]

By Ridge Mahoney in Seoul Squandering leads is never an ideal way to proceed in a world championship, but there are mitigating factors to explain what has happened in the two U.S. games without exonerating it. Portugal came back from a 3-0 deficit to lose narrowly, 3-2, but still it lost. Co-host South Korea came […]

Mia Hamm scored the winning goal upon her return on Wednesday, lifting the Washington Freedom to a 2-1 victory over visiting Boston in her first match in seven months. The Freedom forward, sidelined by a long-standing knee injury that required surgery in February, made her 2002 debut in the 66th minute, coming on for Jacqui […]

May 31 in Seoul Senegal 1 France 0 Goal: Boupa Diop 30. Senegal — Sylva, Daf, Diatta, A.Cisse, Coly, Diop, Fadiga, Diao, Diop, Moussa Ndiaye, Diouf. France — Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Leboeuf, Lizarazu, Vieira, Petit, Djorkaeff (Dugarry, 58), Wiltord (D.Cisse, 80), Trezeguet, Henry. Yellow cards: Senegal — A.Cisse 51; France — Petit 47 + Referee: […]

The following is a ranking of Americans who were a part of the U.S. national team pool during the last year and who play for clubs at the top two levels of a foreign league. Their ranking takes into account their club play during the 2001-02 season and the performance of their club. In parentheses […]

In the best overall season ever for Americans abroad, John O'Brien celebrated two titles with one of the world's great clubs. If playing in tense situations strengthens the nerves, then the U.S. players should be well-steeled for challenges ahead after this season. Of the 16 players in the national team pool who ply their trade […]

Paul Kennedy's View: The power of the purse FIFA PRESIDENT SEPP BLATTER could have been excused if he had little time for Item 11 on the agenda at the FIFA Congress. Only one more item was left – the election of the FIFA president – and Blatter was in no mood to discuss the item […]

Thursday, June 13 in Yokohama (7:30 am ET) Group C: CROATIA (1-0-1, 3 pts., 2-2 goal difference) vs. ECUADOR (0-0-2, 0 pts., 1-4 goal difference) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Telefutura 7:30 am ET) Croatia remained in contention with its comeback win over Italy last Saturday. It can advance with a win, tie or even a loss, […]

It's an election year here in South Korea, and both presidential candidates have been angling to get on the World Cup bandwagon. That doesn't mean they're actually following the tournament. Roh Moo Hyun, candidate of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, was at the Seoul World Cup Stadium for the opening ceremonies, but he didn't stay […]