© "ather press. >>> SPORTS
find the Winner Is ...

Reflections (live) on the World Cup

 

View from the nosebleed section

Patrick Witwicki
Sports Editor

Yeah, so maybe we should have expected it: Brazil winning the whole thing,
and Germany finishing as the runner-up. The two teams who always seem to
be there at the end didn’t disappoint, despite the fact they barely qualified for
this year’s tournament. However, unlike the last two World Cup finals that were
extremely boring (France won convincingly 3-0 over Brazil in ‘98, and in ’94,
Brazil beat Italy on penalty kicks), this time around, the final game was excit-
ing, and offered a perfect climax to what has to be considered a success. FIFA
didn’t know what to expect when they decided to let Korea and Japan co-host
the world’s most prestigious sporting event, but both countries did an out-
standing job, and in the process, performed wonders for Asian soccer.

Yes, in the year of the upset, the Korean Reds shocked everyone by advanc-
ing all the way to the semi-finals, before falling to Germany 1-0. Millions of
Koreans gathered in Seoul, hoping their heroes could offer up one last mira-
cle, but they were unable to break through the German defense. Meanwhile,
Japan fell early in the second round to the other semi-finalist, Turkey, another
team that made it to the semis for the first time. And in fact, Turkey was the
only team to give Brazil a good fight.

And of course, we can’t forget how the defending champs from France were
sent home almost immediately when they failed to register a single goal.
Argentina soon followed, but at least had the excuse of not being able to
survive the “Group of Death.” And don’t forget how soccer titans Italy and
Spain fell to the Koreans, including a shocking penalty kick display where the
Koreans went 5 for 5. And we must remember the wonderful display of African
soccer from Senegal, who nearly became the first African nation to make it to
the semi-finals.

As for the co-hosts, it is difficult to say who did a better job in hosting, or who
was, in European terms, “football crazy.” | had the fortunate luck to attend a

game in each country, and through meeting people from all over the world, |
have tried to come up with a decent comparison, as well as recap my own
personal highlights from the first round of the tournament.

South Korea:

Early in the tournament, the ticketing situation was a mess. Confusion
dominated, with fans having trouble tracking down just exactly where their tick-
ets were. However, while finding tickets to any game in Japan was damn near
impossible, tickets were available for every game (except Korea’s games) over
in South Korea. For this reason, | decided to buy a ticket, and attend a game
in Pusan, South Korea’s main port town on the east coast. | only spent two
days in Korea, but during my time there, | managed to watch France vs.
Uruguay.

June 6, Pusan

7 p.m.

| am on a shuttle bus with an Aussie and a Frenchman. We spent the day
together doing the tourist thing (visiting temples, wandering the fortress, etc)
and now we’re heading to the game. Greg, the Frenchman, is clad (of course)
in a Zidane jersey, and Scott, the Aussie, is trying to paint Greg’s face with
colours of the French flag. As we’re driving, Greg announces, “Well, if France
wins, | will get drunk and celebrate. And if France loses, | will get drunk
because | will be sad.” | glance at him, and ask, “What if it ends up in a draw?”

He pauses, before answering, “Then, | will get drunk because | won’t know
what I’m supposed to do.”

8:30 p.m.

Kick-off! | am sitting in the upper deck at my first-ever World Cup game. |
glance around. The game is close to a sell-out. Not bad, since at this stadium
earlier in the week, only 25,000 showed up for a game between China and
Costa Rica. For both France and Uruguay, this game is a must-win; otherwise,
they will need help to advance to the next round.

To my left, French fans dominate the north end zone, and they will be singing
and cheering all game. On the opposite side, a small group of Uruguayan fans
take up one section of the stadium. But the overall atmosphere isn’t that great.
The crowd, mostly Korean, isn’t sure who to cheer for, and they basically sit
and watch, applauding the odd play as if they’re at the opera. | wonder if Korea
has found the World Cup spirit, or if they're sticking to the “wait and see”
approach.

9 p.m.

Oh-oh. France’s best forward, Henri, gets red-carded. Shortly after,
Uruguay’s #9 does a bloody rollover dive that would make Pavel Bure blush.
Its the third time he’s gone down, and this time the referee ignores him.
Eventually, he is carried off the field, only to limp around the sideline, much to
the disgust of the crowd. From that point on, every time he touches the ball,
he is booed for his efforts. Unfortunately, the remainder of the first half turns
into a diving festival, and at the end of the half, both teams are involved in
pushing and shoving, but fortunately it doesn’t gets ugly.

9:30 p.m.
The second half begins, and amazingly enough, the diving display has
disappeared. Despite being a player short, France puts up a great fight, and

continued on page 26

Cee ee