GROUP B: South Africa ousts Slovenia (1-0)
* With Spain assured of a second-round spot, and Slovenia eliminated, South Africa can advance with a win or tie June 12 against Paraguay, which needs a two-goal win to advance. * Siyabonga Nomvethe nodded home a Quinton Fortune free kick from the sideline for South AfricaÆs winning goal. * ''When I first came to lead the team, they were very down. I think I did a great job lifting the spirit of the players. The team was divided into groups. I tried to make them believe they are all South Africans and they started to believe.'' — South Africa coach Jomo Sono, who took the team over in March. June 8 in Daegu South Africa 1 Slovenia 0 Goal: Nomvethe 4. South Africa — Arendse, Nzama, Radebe, Mokoena, Carnell, Zuma, Sibaya, Mokoena, Fortune (Pule 84), Nomvethe (Buckley, 71), McCarthy (Koumantarakis, 80). Yellow cards: Radebe 12. Slovenia — Simeunovic, Milinovic, Vugdalic, Knavs (Bulajic, 60), Novak, Ceh, Pavlin, Karic, Acimovic (Ceh, 60), Rudonja, Cimirotic (Osterc, 41). Yellow cards: Vugdalic 35, Zeljko 52, Ceh 62, Pavlin 75. Referee: Ruzafa (Argentina). Attendance: 47,226.
GROUP G: Croatia upsets Italy (2-1)
* Italy had two goals disallowed because of Danish linesman Jens LarsenÆs flag. He ruled Christian Vieri — who opened the gameÆs scoring — offside early in the second half and a stoppage time goal was nullified when Larsen ruled Filippo Inzaghi had pulled a CroatianÆs shirt. The Italians are threatening a protest. * Christian Vieri has notched eight goals in seven World Cup games. * ''It was diehard soccer against a tough Italian team. … All I can do is point out the heart of my players. They were sport heroes in tonight's match. In the last 20 minutes we had three injured players and I didn't know what to do. They were dying for each other on the field.'' — Croatia coach Mirko Jozic June 8 in Ibaraki Croatia 2 Italy 1. Goals: Olic 73, Rapaic 76; Vieri 55. Croatia — Pletikosa, Robert Kovac, Simunic, Saric, Jarni, Tomas, Rapaic (Simic 79), Niko, Kovac, Soldo (Vranjes 62), Vugrinec (Olic 57), Boksic. Yellow card: Robert Kovac 39. Italy — Buffon, Panucci, Nesta (Materazzi, 24), Cannavaro, Maldini, Zambrotta, Zanetti, Tommasi, Doni (Inzaghi, 79), Totti, Vieri. Yellow card: Vieri 51. Referee: Poll (England). Att.: 36,472.
GROUP C: Brazil hammers China (4-0)
* The loss marks China coach Bora MilutinovicÆs worst in 19 games over five World Cups. His Nigeria team was eliminated from France æ98 with a 4-1 loss to Denmark. In 1990, his Costa Rica squad fell, also in the second round and by 4-1, to Czechoslovakia. * ''This is a victory that strengthens the self-confidence and the spirit of the team. We are getting better co-ordinated every day and we hope to keep scoring goals and winning our games.ö — Ronaldo. June 8 in Seogwipo Brazil 4 China 0. Roberto Carlos 15, Rivaldo 32, Ronaldinho, pen., 45, Ronaldo 55. Brazil — Marcos, Cafu, Lucio, Roque Junior, Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Silva, Ronaldo (Edilson, 72), Rivaldo, Ronaldinho (Denilson, 46), Juninho (Ricardinho, 70), Anderson Polga. Yellow cards: Ronaldinho 25, Roque Junior 69. China — Jiang Jin, Wu Chenying, Li Tie, Ma Mingyu (Pu Yang, 62), Hao Haidong (Qu Bo, 75), Li Weifeng, Zhao Junze, Du Wei, Li Xiaopeng, Qi Hong (Zhao Junzhe, 66), Xu Yunlong. Referee: Frisk (Sweden). Att.: 36,750
