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Diziah
Starting Member
USA
33 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 09 2001 : 9:00:06 PM
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The deadly rivals laying in wait for Eriksson's England
APART from skill, which you either have or you don't, the most compulsive things about a World Cup are optimism, belief and uncertainty. This time a week ago, Scotland still had hope, Ireland believed, and England suddenly overcame uncertainty not about winning the 2002 World Cup, but about getting there. Even now, presumption may come before a fall. Ask Holland, ask Germany, ask Brazil. There will be 32 nations at the finals, and so far, apart from the hosts, South Korea and Japan, and the champions, France, who do not have to sweat through the qualification process, only 10 countries have won the right to play: Argentina, Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Costa Rica, Poland, Spain and Sweden. There are others we can be confident about - Paraguay, Russia, Portugal, Denmark, Italy and, surely now, England. Below are some of the favourites, and others, that England might like to avoid in the draw on December 1
THE DANGERS AND THE DARK HORSES
ARGENTINA: Currently the most powerful team in the world, with strength at the back in Walter Samuel, creativity in the playmaker role of Manchester United's Juan Sebastian Veron, and so many options up front they can afford to leave out Gabriel Batistuta, right, who, even with a suspect knee, would walk into most squads. Imagine Michael Owen playing off Batistuta
FRANCE: All the components, all the pedigree of reigning world and European champions. Lilian Thuram is the best all-purpose defender in football, Zinedine Zidane the best creator (though no longer indispensible, as France have options), and in Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, and possibly a motivated Nicolas Anelka, they boast an awesome firepower they did not have when they won the 1998 World Cup. The question? Can Les Bleus master seven games in extreme heat and humidity? BRAZIL: The bookmakers put them in the betting because people around the globe will back them on memory. First they have to qualify, then they have to get rid of the ranting, raving, coarsening Luiz Felipe Scolari. This coach believes the Beautiful Game is dead, and fouling and spoiling are the art. He is a Philistine who thinks Rivaldo is a workhorse
ITALY: Solid and strong once they throw off their neurosis, as they showed in the Euro 2000 final. Who would not want Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta locking the defensive door? Who on his day is more artistic than Francesco Totti? And who says Alessandro Del Piero will never fire winners again?
PORTUGAL/SPAIN: The guile and touch to do well in a hot climate, but can either throw off the cloak of self-doubt? Spain's Raul, the prince of Real Madrid, has it in him to settle any contest. Clubmate Luis Figo, right, can lift Portugal towards the sum of its elegant parts. But we wait and we wait for fulfilment of the gifted, wayward Iberians
GERMANY: Who says they will qualify? After Finland lurk the spirited Belarussians or Ukraine. When they meet again, the 'old boys' of Dynamo Kiev, Andrei Shevchenko and Sergei Rebrov, quickly forget what strangers they are becoming. Germany must fear their pace and finish. In similar mode, Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic all can play, but a heavy workrate is not ideal in dehydrating conditions
SWEDEN/DENMARK: 'Anglo-Saxon' physical football, team ethic and running cease when the temperatures rise. Henrik Larsson committed larceny in Istanbul on Wednesday when he disappeared for 88 minutes, before popping up to equalise against Turkey, then Andreas Andersson scored an added-time winner. The goals that keep Denmark in the hunt? Both were scored in Bulgaria by Jon Dahl Tomasson, who never made the grade at Newcastle
NIGERIA: The eternal promise that Africa will be football's continent points strongly to Senegal. Seriously, what extraordinary progress, and it takes no mean goalpower in the form of Pape Thiaw and Moussa N'Diaye for the Senegalese to finish top of a qualifying group containing Morocco, Egypt and Algeria. For real power, experience and expectation, Nigeria are the continent's elite, as an Olympic gold and two strong World Cup campaigns have shown. Yet Nigeria, plagued by internal problems as always, struggled to pip Liberia in their group
THE HOME FRONT: Odds of 80-1 against Japan and 100-1 against Korea winning their World Cup are not unreasonable. It is intriguing to see the route Philippe Troussier, the Frenchman, is taking his Asian champions Japan (scattering them in World Cup year to leagues in England, Italy and Argentina) and the philosophy of Guus Hiddink, keeping his Koreans in a tight-knit squad, touring for experience, seeking seclusion at home. Winning is less their agenda than saving face: hosts traditionally come through to the quarter-finals, in this case a tall order for two of them
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This page is provided by www.sunday-times.co.uk on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Sunday Times, visit the Syndication website.
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