NETHERLANDS
PRESSURE OFF. For once, the Dutch don't enter the World Cup as one of the favorites – which is the way they probably like it.
No European country has produced a succession of great talent like the Dutch have in the past 15 years – from Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard in the mid-80s to Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert and Clarence Seedorf in the '90s – but the Dutch have little to show for it since winning the '88 European Championship.
RIJKAARD AS MENTOR. Coach Guus Hiddink's biggest challenge? The tendency of Dutch teams to self-destruct.
Johan Cruyff refused to play in the 1978 World Cup, probably costing the Dutch the World Cup. Gullit walked out on the team just days before USA '94. Midfielder Edgar Davids was kicked off the team two years ago at the European Championship, exposing the team's racial divisions.
Rijkaard is now serving as an assistant coach, helping to mentor the team's young Surinamese players.
NEW TACTICS. Following the disastrous showing at Euro '96, Hiddink scrapped the 3-4-3 Ajax formation used by the Dutch for many years for a more conventional 4-4-2.
The switch relieved some of the pressure on the central midfielders to provide support for the defense. Hiddink has until now gone with the more conservative Philip Cocu and Frank De Boer out wide, though the more explosive Marc Overmars could return for the World Cup.
Netherlands in brief
World Cup appearances: 6. Best finish: Runner-up (1974, 1978). Record (W-T-L): 11-6-8. How it qualified: Europe – Wales 3-1, 7-1, Belgium 3-0, 3-1, San Marino 4-0, 6-0, Turkey 0-1, 0-0 (Group 7 champion).
BELGIUM
LEEKENS THE RESCUER. One person is responsible for the Red Devils reaching the World Cup finals for the fifth straight time: Georges Leekens.
Belgian soccer – stung by a series of off-the-field problems – hit bottom in late 1996. Just before Christmas, the Red Devils fell to the Netherlands, their archrival, 3-0 in Brussels.
The Belgian soccer federation was so desperate to find a replacement for head coach Wilfried Van Moer that it hired Leekens away from Excelsior Mouscron in the middle of the season.
The move turned the tables on the First Division, so to speak.
Tiny Mouscron, just up from the Second Division, led the First Division at the time of Leekens' departure; it fell to third after he left.
Leekens led Belgium to away victories over Wales and Turkey in his first two qualifiers and the Red Devils were on their way to France.
GO-CARTS AND SNOOKER. Leekens' secret? A relaxed camp. The atmosphere improved dramatically once Leekens arrived. At one camp, he took his players on outings to ride go-carts and play snooker. He took a few hits from the tough Belgian press, but players responded to him.
Leekens downplays his influence.
''I don't consider myself important,'' he said recently. ''I'm more sensitive than most people think.''
For two years, he's cared for his wife, bed-ridden in a coma.
OVERSUBSCRIBED. The Belgian federation was overwhelmed by the demand for tickets, particularly for the opener against the Netherlands at the Stade de France.
The federation had to hire two people simply to open the mail from fans requesting tickets.
It received requests for 120,000 tickets, and received an allotment of 5,400, of which most were reserved for federation officials and sponsors.
Belgium in brief
World Cup appearances: 9. Best finish: Fourth place (1986). Record (W-T-L): 9-4-16. How it qualified: Europe – Turkey 2-1, 3-1, San Marino 3-0, 6-0, Netherlands 0-3, 1-3, Wales 2-1, 3-2; Ireland 1-1, 2-1 (won playoff).
SOUTH KOREA
DUBIOUS MARK. Coach Cha Bum Kun has a simple goal for his team: win one game.
This is South Korea's fifth World Cup, fourth in a row, but it has yet to win in 11 games. No team has played as many games without winning at least once.
The Koreans never looked capable of winning a game at USA '94, but they certainly played the role of spoilers. They tied Spain 2-2 with a late rally, held Bolivia to a 0-0 tie and almost caught Germany, falling 3-2 after being down 3-0 after 38 minutes.
GO WITH KO? Cha made his name as a star in the German Bundesliga (Eintracht Frankfurt and later Bayer Leverkusen) in the '80s.
He likens the Korean work ethic to what he saw in Germany.
There's no denying the spirit of Cha's Korean team, but the lack of a true playmaker remains a glaring weakness in the Korean team.
Cha has yet to decide whether he will gamble on using teenager Ko Jung Soo, the great hope of Korean soccer, in that role.
EYE ON 2002. Cha's buildup to France '98 has been overshadowed by economic trouble that threatens South Korea's plans to co-host the 2002 World Cup with Japan.
Members of the national team's Red Devil fan club led demonstrations to convince the government to provide the funds for stadium projects to go forward.
South korea in brief
World Cup appearances: 4. Best finish: first round. Record (W-T-L): 0-3-8. How it qualified: Asia – Hong Kong 2-0, 4-0, Thailand 3-1, 0-0; Kazakhstan 3-0, 1-1, Uzbekistan 2-1, 5-1, Japan 2-1, 0-2, UAE 3-0, 3-1 (Group B champion).
MEXICO
ROLLERCOASTER RIDE. Which Mexico team will show up in France?
The team that rolled to its third straight Gold Cup title in February? Or the team that lost 3-1 to Australia in Manuel Lapuente's debut at the Confederations Cup, was embarrassed on a tour of South America in early April and took a beating against Norway in Oslo on the eve of the finals?
Most Mexicans are worried that it will be the latter.
On the even of the finals, the Mexican federation took the drastic step of calling in veteran coaches Ricardo Ferretti and Luis Fernando Tena to support head coach Manuel Lapuente.
A NEW DIRECTION. Four players in the starting lineup when Mexico clinched its berth in the finals are gone: Alberto Coyote, Benjamin Galindo, Carlos Hermosillo and Zaguinho. Jorge Campos remains in the goal, but only because his challengers have not produced.
Lapuente has several changes since replacing Bora Milutinovic: Claudio Suarez has been moved from the backline into the role of a sweeper in front of the defense, while Luis Hernandez, who played a secondary role during much of Milutinovic's tenure, is now the go-to man up front.
EUROPEAN JINX. History is not on Mexico's side: In the eight tournaments played on European soil, it has yet to win a game.
Mexico traveled to Rome for the '34 World Cup but didn't actually play in the tournament, falling to the United States in a ''qualifying'' match.
It played in the first three European finals after World War II, but couldn't buy a win. Only once did it not finish last in its group, edging France for third in 1966 when it tied Uruguay 0-0 in its final game.
Until France '98, a European World Cup has since then meant bad luck. Mexico failed to qualify every time.
Mexico in brief
World Cup appearances: 10. Best finish: quarterfinals (1970, 1986). Record (W-T-L): 7-8-18. How it qualified: CONCACAF – Honduras 2-1, 3-1, Jamaica 2-1, 0-1, St. Vincent & the Grenadines 3-0, 5-1; Canada 4-0, 2-2, Costa Rica 0-0. 3-3, Jamaica 6-0, 0-0, USA 2-2, 0-0, El Salvador 1-0, 5-0 (CONCACAF champion).