Pups run Zizou into the ground
MAY 26. It's rare that a World Cup warmup would take on great significance, but the South Korea-France match played in Suwon five days before the opener turned out to be the defining moment of the 2002 World Cup.
The match between the co-hosts and defending champions ended with a 3-2 victory for the Bleus, but it set the tone for the month that laid head.
France's World Cup hopes suffered a fatal blow when Zinedine Zidane, hero of its '98 triumph, left the game with a thigh injury after 41 minutes.
Zizou had arrived in Asia only three days earlier. He'd been given permission to remain with his wife, Veronique, who had given birth to their third son, Theo, a week earlier, and miss training camp.
Was it a freak injury? Sure. Zidane wasn't hit. But France would pay a heavy price for its flawed preparations.
The game in Suwon was played with a rare intensity for a friendly. Given little chance six months earlier, the Koreans attacked with a fervor that startled observers and even took a 2-1 lead at halftime. They had basically run Zidane into the ground.
It was just the beginning for what Korea coach Guus Hiddink liked to call his ''young dogs'' – perhaps a poor analogy in a country where the practice of eating dog meat was an international controversy.
The secret to Korea's fitness? As they ran one team after another into the ground, there were whispers from the European media that the Koreans must have been doped.
Later, Seoul papers revealed Korea's secret diet: Hiddink's pups had been prepared a special chow: a concoction of carp and mullet.
Senegoal of the tournament
JUNE 6. Senegal's success debunked three myths about African soccer. It's been generally held that Africans teams rely on their athleticism, individual talent and witchcraft.
Senegal's French coach, Bruno Metsu, took the last argument first.
''Maybe two or three are susceptible to that kind of thing,'' Metsu said of the reliance of jujemen to use magic. ''But the rest just treat it as a joke.''
There's no doubting that Senegal has great athletes – one needs only to witness the influx of basketball stars in the American high school, college and pro ranks from the West African nation – but the Lions showed they had more than just individual talent.
Many considered Senegal's 1-0 win over France in the opening game a fluke – a case of the Lions' adopting a defensive posture and frustrating an aging and disorganized team – but it showed tremendous attacking flare in its next three games.
For collective effort, the Lions tying goal against Denmark in their 1-1 tie was the goal of the tournament.
Four players were involved in the goal that began in the Lions' half:
Henri Camara won the ball and played it to El-Hadji Diouf.
Diouf flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot to Salif Diao in the center circle.
Diao played the ball forward to Khalilou Fadiga on the left and raced down the middle.
Fadiga played the ball back to the streaking Diao, who knocked the ball with the outside of his right foot away from Danish keeper Thomas Sorensen and inside the far post.
Soccer and the truth
JUNE 11. By the time Zidane returned for France's third game against Denmark, the Bleus were almost out. They needed to beat the Danes by two goals to advance and were desperate.
In any other circumstance, Zidane wouldn't have played. Favoring his left leg, he was largely ineffective, and France lost, 2-0. They went home without scoring a goal.
Unlike many of the other powers to leave early, the French had no excuses.
In the tradition of the great French philosophers, Zidane said, ''Soccer is all about the truth of what happens on the field. We could have done better.''
Wake-up call for Japanese hero
JUNE 9. Like South Korea, Japan entered the World Cup without a win. Having lost all three games at France '98 and tied Belgium, 2-2, in its opener at the 2002 World Cup, Japan had to wait until its second game to notch its first victory.
For goalscorer Junichi Inamoto, the 1-0 win over Russia proved to be bittersweet.
Inamoto found out shortly thereafter that he'd been released by his English club, Arsenal.
''All I've heard is what is in the news,'' he said. ''I was watching TV in my room before going to bed, and suddenly there was a news flash saying I'd been dropped by Arsenal, which woke me up a bit.''
Inamoto, who didn't play a single Premier League game for the Gunners after joining them from Gamba Osaka for $5.85 million last summer, would like to stay at Arsenal, but he won't lack for takers.
He was one of the few Japanese stars to live up to their reputation at the World Cup.
A break in the weather
JUNE 12. A day after Denmark won Group A, Sweden won Group F, eliminating Argentina with a 1-1 tie.
It was a shocking reversal for the World Cup's Scandinavian entrants, who had finished last in their groups at the European Championship two years earlier.
The Danes had been so worried about having to play in the afternoon that they petitioned FIFA – unsuccessfully – to have their kickoff times changed. Like Sweden, Denmark kicked off all of its group matches at 3:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. and feared its players would be done in by the expected heat and humidity.
The hot weather turned out to be a non-factor. It was cooler in Korea and Japan than in France four years earlier and certainly much cooler than at USA '94, where most games were played in brutal heat.
Weak in the mind
JUNE 15. If the French made a mess out of their World Cup, what can you say about the Portuguese?
Tipped as one of the favorites, Portugal self-destructed. It started the tournament with a horrendous half-hour display, falling behind the United States, 3-0, in its Group D opener, and choked against South Korea.
Knowing that the United States was being routed by Poland in Daejeon, the Portuguese needed only to tie South Korea in Incheon to advance to the second round.
But Joao Pinto was red-carded for a two-footed tackle on Korean Park Ji Sung and, to make matters worse, attacked Argentine referee Angel Sanchez.
In the second half, a second Portuguese player, Beto, was given his marching orders. With nine players, Portugal fell to South Korea, 1-0.
Fans insulted the Portuguese upon their return at Lisbon's airport.
''Mental and physical cripples,'' said one sign in the crowd.
The main targets of the Portuguese press were Coach Antonio Oliviera, fired 11 days later, and Joao Pinto, once considered the star of Portugal's ''Golden Generation,'' the players who won the World Youth Championship in 1989 and 1991.
Joao Pinto was later surpassed by players such as Luis Figo and Rui Costa, who have had brilliant careers abroad, and spent most of his career in Portugal.
''The players who played for big clubs are strong,'' insisted a Portuguese reporter. ''Joao Pinto is weak in the mind.''
Rain falls down on Blue Heaven
JUNE 18. Contrary to expectations, Japan, not South Korea, was the first co-host to fall.
It came on a rainy afternoon in Miyagi, where Turkey scored an early goal and held off the Japanese for a 1-0 victory. The wet conditions made it tough – it rained just about every day in Japan for the second half of the tournament – and the Japanese never looked like regaining control of the game.
The Japanese could take consolation in the fact that the record of every World Cup host making the second round remained intact, but they had lost their unspoken battle with co-host and archrival Korea.
Runaway winner of the 2000 Asian Cup and runner-up at the 2001 Confederations Cup, Japan had peaked too soon.
There were many tears shed in Blue Heaven – many of the Japanese fans wore T-shirts reading ''Welcome to Blue Heaven'' – but the World Cup had never become the national obsession it was across the sea.
''The team's success has given a ray of hope and encouragement to the Japanese people, who have lost confidence lately,'' said the Yomiuri Shimbun in a editorial.
The lost goat who ruined Italian soccer
JUNE 18. Italy took the Azzurri's 2-1 overtime loss to South Korea hard.
Italian television network RAI threatened to sue FIFA for the advertising revenue it lost because of Italy's early dismissal.
By coincidence, Ahn Jung Hwan, who scored the winning goal, spent the last two seasons at Serie A Perugia, and its president, Luciano Gaucci, touched off an international incident after saying that Ahn would never play for Perugia again.
''What did you expect me to do?'' said Gaucci. ''That I would keep a player who ruined Italian soccer. He should have shown his talent while he was with us. He'll just have to go back to Korea and earn 100,000 lire [$48] a month.''
Gaucci described Ahn, the most popular player in Korea, as ''a little lost goat who didn't even have the money to buy a sandwich. He became rich without doing anything exceptional, and then, at the World Cup, he denigrated Italian soccer.''
Peter Velappan, the general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation, called on Asian players to boycott Perugia. The European Union announced it would launch an investigation into possible job discrimination by Perugia.
Under pressure, Gaucci relented.
''The misunderstandings of the past have been settled,'' said a Perugia spokesman in announcing that it had picked up Ahn's $1.5 million option from Pusan.
Two acts of genius
JUNE 21. Ronaldo and Rivaldo entered the World Cup as Brazil's big stars, but it was Ronaldinho, the third ''R'' in the Luis Felipe Scolari's attack, who saved Brazil against England.
Two acts of genius on either side of halftime gave Brazil a 2-1 win in their quarterfinal showdown.
On the first, Ronaldinho raced 40 yards straight through the English defense and laid the ball off for Rivaldo to score with a shot to the far post.
On the second, Ronaldinho launched a free kick from the right side 35 yards out, caught English keeper David Seaman off his line and watched the wind carry the ball over Seaman's head and inside the far post.
Was it an errant cross? Ronaldinho insisted he intended to lob Seaman, saying that teammate Cafu before the play told him that Seaman liked to cheat off his line.
Twice, Seaman had been beaten from distance in big games with Arsenal – by Tottenham's Paul Gascoigne from 30 yards in the semifinals of the 1991 FA Cup and by Real Zaragoza's Nayim from 40 yards in overtime of the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup.
Seaman's England teammates came to his defense.
''The goal wasn't his fault,'' said captain David Beckham.
The English press wasn't so kind on the 38-year-old Seaman.
''It all ends in tears,'' said the Daily Mail over a photo of Beckham trying to console the crying Seaman.
Seaman was an easy scapegoat for England's exit – just as Beckham, red-carded against Argentina in the second round of the 1998 World Cup, was the scapegoat four years ago.
A golden goal made in Germany
JUNE 22. Before the Brazil-Turkey semifinal, Turkey coach Senol Gunes said his players should receive the same respect their counterparts get.
''Rio de Janeiro is famous for breeding great soccer players,'' Senol said. ''We want the shores of the Black Sea to be known for the same reason.''
Fact is, three of Senol's best players were raised in the immigrant communities in Germany.
Diminutive Yildiray Basturk, who stars for European Cup runner-up Bayer Leverkusen, was outstanding as Turkey's playmaker. Midfielder Umit Davala had the winning goal in the 1-0 win over Japan. And Umit set up Ilhan Mansiz for a golden goal ''made in German'' in the 1-0 win over Senegal in the quarterfinals.
German is Basturk's first language. Ilhan, who was born in Munich and came to Turkey at the age of 19, had difficulties adjusting to life in Turkey before becoming a star at Besiktas.
Umit, who plays for Italian club AC Milan, is thankful for the experience he and other Turks have gained in Germany.
''It helps us that maybe we play a little like Germany,'' he said.
By Soccer America Managing Editor Paul Kennedy