* r e c. Sport. Soccer ' s

Finland - Sweden 0-1 (0-0)

Klas Ingesson (77p)

Att: 13.613
Israel - Sweden 1-3 (1-1)

Banin (42) Anders Limpar (37)

Martin Dahlin (58)

Klas Ingesson (75)

Att: 35.000
Sweden - Bulgaria 2-0 (0-0)

Martin Dahlin (63)

Stefan Pettersson (82)
France - Sweden 2-1 (1-1)

Cantona (40p,81) Martin Dahlin (14)

Att: 43.134
Sweden - Austria 1-0 (0-0)

Jan Eriksson (50)

Att: 27.775
Sweden - Israel 5-0 (2-0)

Tomas Brolin (16,41,65)

Per Zetterberg (55)

Stefan Landberg (89)

Att: 22.042
Sweden - France 1-1 (0-0)

Martin Dahlin (89) Sauzee (77)

Att: 30.530
Bulgaria - Sweden 1-1 (1-1)

Stoichkov (21p) Martin Dahlin (26)

Att: 35.000
Sweden - Finland 3-2 (3-1)

Martin Dahlin (27,45) Suominen (15)

Henrik Larsson (40) Litmanen (60)

Att: 30.177

Austria - Sweden 1-1 (0-0)

Herzog (71) Hakan Mild (68)

Final Standings in Group 6
Sweden 10 6 3 1 19- 8 15

Bulgaria 10 6 2 2 19-10 14

--------------------------------

France 10 6 1 3 17-10 13

Austria 10 3 2 5 15-16 8

Finland 10 2 1 7 9-18 5

Israel 10 1 3 6 10-27 5

Comment on Qualification Group 6:

France was the big favorite in this group but lost their last two games in

Paris (Israel 2-3 and Bulgaria 1-2 (two real upsets)) so they blew it. Sweden

on the other hand had a very comfortable ride all the way. Two "safe" draws in

the most crucial games, home against France and away to Bulgaria. The defeat

against France in Paris was due to a dubious penalty decision (a gift for

France from the referee).

It's hard to estimate the chances of Sweden in the final playoffs. Sweden is

*not* a major contender for the trophy. In fact, it would be regarded as a

very successful tournament for Sweden if they could reach the quarter finals.I

believe that Sweden are certainly among the 16 best soccer nations in the

tournament, but due to strange and outrageous drawing rules) Sweden has to play

in the most difficult group, in my opinion with Brazil, Russia and Cameroon.

Therefore, I'll only give them a 2/3 chance of reaching the second round, I

remember Italia '90 too well.

Pre World Cup Friendlies:
18.2.94 Miami v Colombia 0-0

20.2.94 Miami v USA 3-1

25.2.94 A v Mexico 1-2

20.4.94 A v Wales 2-0

5.5.94 H v Nigeria 3-1

26.5.94 A v Denmark 0-1

5.6.94 H v Norway 2-0
Key players

-----------

Like I said before "team effort" is the Swedish philosophy. The coach Tommy

Svensson's task is to make sure everybody knows their role and works well

together. Still there are some players to watch out for:
MARTIN DAHLIN (Forward, Borussia Moenchengladbach(GER)):

A 25 year old striker originally from the south of Sweden signed by Borussia

from Malmo FF. He is *the* goal scorer in the team, not always an attractive

player but very effective. He was the top scorer in qualifying with 7 goals.

He is easy to recognize because he will probably be the only black player in

the team (his father is a West Indian and mother Swedish).

He can shoot with both feet, is good with his head and knows exactly where the

goal is. Unfortunately he has a negative side. His temperament is questionable

and he uses his elbows and studs more than he should.
JONAS THERN (Midfield, Napoli(ITA)):

Also signed from Malmo FF, he is the dream of every coach. He is the heart of

the Swedish engine, and brilliant both in defence and attack. He always gives

everything when playing for the national side. A great dribbler and passer of

the ball, he seems to have a sixth sense of where Dahlin is, stemming from their

days together at Malmo.

TOMAS BROLIN (midfield-forward, Parma(ITA)):

The only good Swede to play well in Italia '90. Nowadays he is a "star" player

for Parma. He is ranked among the 3 best foreigners in Italy and that says it

all. Recently, he has been playing in an attacking midfield role instead of as

an out and out forward, but he still scores regularly. Unfortunately, he likes

fast cars, women and parties which begs the question, is he the Swedish George

Best?

Simon Gleave, E-Mail [e-mail] Phone [phone] x 4129

Computing Officer, LS Support Group, Social Statistics Research Unit,

The City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK

===============================================================================

W O R L D C U P G R O U P C

===============================================================================
World Cup Finals Records:
Team P W D L F A Apps Best Performance(s)

Bolivia 3 0 0 3 0 16 2 First Round (1930, 1950)

Germany (West) 62 36 13 13 131 77 10 Winners ('54,'74,'90)

South Korea 8 0 1 7 5 29 3 First Round ('54,'86,'90)

Spain 32 13 7 12 43 38 8 Fourth (1950)

On paper, this looks like a straight fight between Germany and Spain, but the

presence of Bolivia, conquerors of mighty Brazil in qualifying and South Korea,

who have always threatened to cause a shock complicate matters to a degree.

Bolivia qualified for the finals for the first time since 1950 mainly due to

their phenomenal home record in the altitude of La Paz. It's extremely

difficult to make a fair judgement on their chances because of this, but there

may have been a clue when they played Ireland in Dublin recently and gave the

Irish a real fright before conceding a late goal to go down 1-0 - don't write

these South Americans off.

Germany have got an astonishing record in World Cup finals, they've reached the

final in four of the last six tournaments, winning twice and are of course, the

current holders. However, their form has been rather suspect of late and it is

possible that the ageing squad will not perform as well as usual this time

around. Having said that, the Germans can never be written off in major

tournaments and they should progress from this group with relative ease.

South Korea have appeared in the last 2 World Cup finals and have looked like

they might pull off a shock without ever doing so. All of their players have

plenty of skill and the goals that they've scored in final tournaments have

always been spectacular. However, this group looks to be tougher than either

of the groups they graced in '86 and '90 and I'm afraid they'll find it very

hard to rise above the basement.

Finally, in this group, we have Spain, the perennial enigma of World Cup finals.

The Spanish have always underachieved in this tournament, they are reckoned to

be one of Europe's strongest teams and yet their World Cup performances hardly

underline this - in 1982, as hosts, they managed to lose to minnows Northern

Ireland before tamely going out in the second round. However, this time they

have a new young team and are said to have more spirit than is usually

associated with Spanish teams. They came through an extremely tough group,

surviving the loss of their goalkeeper, Zubizaretta early in the final game,

and with this added steel, I wouldn't be surprised to see them take this group,

and then go on to their best World Cup finish since 1950.

Spain and Germany will qualify from Group C with Bolivia waiting to see if

their third place is enough and South Korea propping the table up again.

===============================================================================

B O L I V I A

Rodrigo Sanchez

===============================================================================
COACH: Xavier Azkargorta
GOALKEEPERS: Age Caps Goals

1. Carlos Trucco Bolivar 35 20 0

12. Dario Rojas Oriente Petrolero 34 13 0

19. Marcelo Torrico The Strongest 22 1 0

DEFENDERS:

2. Juan Manuel Pena Santa Fe 21 18 1

3. Marco Sandy Bolivar 22 21 2

4. Miguel Angel Rimba Bolivar 26 29 0

5. Gustavo Quinteros The Strongest 29 19 1

13. Modesto Soruco Blooming 28 18 0

16. Luis Cristaldo Bolivar 24 23 1

17. Oscar Sanchez The Strongest 32 3 0

MIDFIELDERS:

6. Carlos Borja Bolivar 36 72 1

7. Mario Pinedo Oriente Petrolero 30 16 2

8. Jose Milton Melgar The Strongest 34 59 5

14. Mauricio Ramos Destroyers 24 7 0

15. Vladimir Soria Bolivar 25 11 0

20. Ivan Ramiro Castillo Platense 27 17 1

21. Erwin Sanchez Boavista (Por) 24 26 7

22. Julio Cesar Baldivieso Bolivar 22 26 1
FORWARDS:

9. Alvaro Pena Temuco 29 37 4

10. Marco Antonio Etcheverry Colo Colo (Chile) 23 23 5

11. Jaime Moreno Blooming 20 17 2

18. William Ramallo Oriente Petrolero 30 21 9
It all started in January of 93 when the Bolivian Federation hired the basque

coach Xabier(Javier) Azkargorta. The fans and the press didn't like him at

first because he didn't have a good record in Spain. At the same time the

Bolivian soccer league was suspended for the first half of 1993 because many

players weren't getting paid. This allowed the national team to get together

and concentrate on the qualifying tournament for a full six months before they

began. This, as it turned out, was very advantageous since Bolivia qualified

for a World Cup finals for the first time. (Bolivia participated in the World

Cups of Uruguay 1930 and Brazil 1950 but at that time participation was by

invitation.)

The backbone of the team consisted of at least seven players who graduated from

a juvenile soccer academy called Tahuichi Aguilera. This Academy has

represented the country in various occassions conquering many tournaments

abroad. Many of these players play in clubs outside of Bolivia. Among these

players are Marco Antonio Etcheverry (#1), Luis Hector Cristaldo, Erwin Sanchez,

Milton Melgar, Juan Manuel Pen~a and Alvaro Pen~a.

The first game of the qualifying tournament was in Venezuela. Bolivia won 7-1,

with goals from William Ramallo (3), Erwin Sanchez (3), and Luis Cristaldo. Two

weeks later was the big game against Brazil in La Paz, Bolivia. The game was

fairly even until about 12 minutes from the end when Bolivia were awarded a

penalty, but they missed. Incredibly, the players recovered from this disastrous

moment to score goals through Etcheverry and Pen~a in the last 2 minutes of the

game, running out 2-0 winners. The following week, Uruguay were beaten 3-1 by

goals from Etcheverry, Sanchez and Milton Melgar, and this was swiftly followed

by a poor game against Ecuador, Ramallo scored the only goal for a 1-0 win.

After a 7-0 victory against Venezuela, this left Bolivia needing a draw from

their last three games to qualify. The problem being that the final three games

were all away from home against Brazil, Uruguay and Ecuador. The Brazilian game

was a disaster for Bolivia as they went down 6-0, and Uruguay scraped a 2-1

victory with Sanchez scoring Bolivia's goal. Finally, a 1-1 draw in Ecuador got

Bolivia through, Ramallo scoring.

All of the teams in qualifying complained about the altitude of Bolivia's home

base, La Paz which is situated at 3600m above sea level. The altitude can

affect some teams, but there is more to Bolivia's qualifying performance than

this.
Bolivia have been drawn in a group with Germany, Spain and South Korea. Although

this will be a tough group to progress from, it is not beyond the bounds of

possibility for the Bolivians to qualify for the second round. However, I don't

think we can expect much more than this.
Pre World Cup Friendlies:
18.2.94 A USA 1-1

20.2.94 A Colombia 0-2

26.3.94 A USA 2-2

7.4.94 A Colombia 1-0

20.4.94 A Romania 0-3

4.5.94 Cannes Saudi Arabia 1-0

11.5.94 Athens Cameroon 1-1

13.5.94 Athens Greece 0-0

19.5.94 A Iceland 0-1

24.5.94 A Eire 0-1

8.6.94 USA Peru 0-0

11.6.94 Can'da Switzerland 0-0

Key players could be:
MARCO ANTONIO ETCHEVERRY (Midfield, Colo-Colo(CHILE)):

Has torn knee ligaments playing for his Chilean club side, but is expected to

recover for the finals).
ERWIN SANCHEZ (Midfield, Boavista(POR)):

A great striker of the ball.

LUIS CRISTALDO (Defender, Bolivar):
MIGUEL ANGEL RIMBA (Defender, Bolivar):
WILLIAM RAMALLO (Forward, Oriente Petrolero):

He is nicknamed 'fisherman of the area' because of his knack for picking up

all the passes and loose balls. Top scorer with 8 goals in qualifying.

===============================================================================

G E R M A N Y

Olaf Hendel

===============================================================================
COACH: Hans-Hubert Vogts
GOALKEEPERS: Age Caps Goals

1. Bodo Illgner 1.FC Koeln 27 47 0

12. Andreas Koepcke Eintracht Frankfurt 32 14 0

22. Oliver Kahn Bayern Muenchen 24 0 0

DEFENDERS:

2. Thomas Strunz VfB Stuttgart 26 11 0

3. Andreas Brehme 1.FC Kaiserslautern 33 79 8

4. Juergen Kohler Juventus (Ita) 28 63 0

5. Thomas Helmer Bayern Muenchen 29 23 0

6. Guido Buchwald VfB Stuttgart 32 73 4

10. Lothar Matthaeus Bayern Muenchen 33 110 19

14. Thomas Berthold VfB Stuttgart 29 51 1

17. Martin Wagner 1.FC Kaiserslautern 26 2 0
MIDFIELD:

7. Andreas Moeller Juventus (Ita) 26 39 13

8. Thomas Haessler AS Roma (Ita) 28 48 6

15. Mauritio Gaudino Eintracht Frankfurt 27 4 1

16. Matthias Sammer Borussia Dortmund 26 45 1

20. Stefan Effenberg Fiorentina (Ita) 25 29 5

21. Mario Basler Werder Bremen 25 3 0
FORWARDS:

9. Karl-Heinz Riedle Borussia Dortmund 28 37 15

11. Stefan Kuntz 1.FC Kaiserslautern 31 2 1

13. Rudi Voeller Olympique Marseille (Fra) 34 86 44

18. Juergen Klinsmann AS Monaco (Fra) 29 58 19

19. Ulf Kirsten Bayer Leverkusen 28 59 3

"...together with the new players from the German Democratic Republic,

the German National Team will be unbeatable for the near future."

Franz Beckenbauer after the WC Final, July 1990
The success of the German soccer team in the WC90 tournament and this statement

by "Kaiser Franz" were dominating the first period of Berti Vogts' management

after he was appointed as the chief-coach of the German Football Association

(DFB) in 1990.

His first task was the qualification to the EC-tournament in 1992. Vogts didn't

change the core-team around Matthaeus (who didn't play during the EC 92 due to

an injury), Brehme, Buchwald, Voeller, Kohler but he also gave chances to some

new players. Although they performed very moderately, Germany reached the final

of the EC tournament in Sweden (1992), but lost against the tournament's

surprise-package, Denmark by 2 goals to nil. This EC-final match was the last

match under "real" competition conditions, because as the title-holder, Germany

didn't have to qualify for the WC 94. This was one reason for Vogts to play a

lot of friendlies (21 all together) against strong teams from all over the

world.
Vogts continued his experiments, but most of the new players didn't succeed.

Altogether there have been 39 players used since the EC-final 1992, with 12 of

these making less than three appearances.

One of the most important changes made was to bring Lothar Matthaeus back into

the sweeper position. Doing this has reduced the rivalry in midfield, where the

German team has a lot of excellent players. A problem in the German team may be

the forward-line because Karl-Heinz Riedle couldn't fill the gap that Rudi

Voeller has left. So, Vogts has only one top class striker with international

experience, Juergen Klinsmann. Stefan Kuntz (top-scorer of the Bundesliga 92/93)

is injured and Ulf Kirsten didn't impress last season.
One of the most discussed subject in the German soccer-community was the

goalkeeping position. During the last two years Vogts changed between Bodo

Illgner and Andreas Koepcke. However, it was Oliver Kahn, who has had a great

season, who was demanded as the No.1. Vogts seemed unable to make up his mind

and hesitated until the end of May: two days before the friendly against

Ireland when he appointed Bodo Illgner as the No.1 in the German goal because

of his international experience (he said it was the most difficult decision in

his career as chief-coach).

The aim of the German team in the USA is to defend the title successfully

(the public expectations are very high here in Germany). If they continue the

old German virtue as a "tournament-team", its possible. Maybe...

Some statistics:

================
1) Line-ups:

============

WC Final 1990: Illgner,Augenthaler,Brehme,Kohler,Buchwald,Littbarski

-------------- Matthaeus, Haessler,Berthold (Reuter),Klinsmann,Voeller

EC-Final 1992: Illgner,Helmer,Reuter,Kohler,Buchwald,Brehme,Haessler,

-------------- Effenberg (Thom),Sammer (Doll),Klinsmann,Riedle

2) Matches since June 1993:

===========================

1993:

-----

10.6. Brasil - Germany 3:3 (Klinsmann 2, Moeller)

13.6. USA - Germany 3:4 (Klinsmann, Riedle 3)

19.6. England - Germany 1:2 (Effenberg, Klinsmann)

22.9 Tunisia - Germany 1:1 (Moeller)

13.10. Germany - Uruguay 5:0 (Buchwald, Moeller, Riedle, Kirsten, og)

17.11. Germany - Brasil 2:1 (Buchwald, Moeller)

15.12 Argentina- Germany 2:1 (Moeller)

18.12. USA - Germany 0:3 (Moeller, Kuntz, Thom)

22.12. Mexico - Germany 0:0
1994:

-----

23.3. Germany - Italy 2:1 (Klinsmann 2)

27.4. U.A.E. - Germany 0:2 (Kirsten, Gaudino)

29.5. Germany - Ireland 0:2

2.6. Austria - Germany 1:5 (Sammer, Moeller 2, Klinsmann, Basler)

8.6. Canada - Germany 0:2 (Sammer, Voeller)

===============================================================================

S O U T H K O R E A

Hans S Cho

===============================================================================
COACH: Kim Ho
GOALKEEPERS: Age Caps Goals

1. Choi In-Young Hyundai Horang-I 32 32 0

21. Park Chul-Woo Daewoo Royals 28 0 0

22. Lee Won-Jae Kyunghe University 21 0 0

DEFENDERS:

2. Chung Jong-Son Hyundai Horang-I 28 7 0

3. Lee Jong-Hwa Ilhwa Chonma 28 1 0

4. Kim Pan-Keun L.G. Cheetahs 28 25 1

5. Park Jung-Bae Daewoo Royals 27 26 2

7. Shin Hong-Gi Hyundai Horang-I 26 25 2

12. Choi Young-Il Hyundai Horang-I 28 3 0

13. An Ik-Soo Ilhwa Chonma 29 4 0

17. Gu Sang-Bum Daewoo Royals 30 70 2

20. Hong Myung-Bo POSCO Atoms 25 46 4

MIDFIELD:

6. Lee Young-Jin L.G. Cheetahs 30 37 1

8. Noh Jung-Yoon Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Jap) 23 15 1

9. Kim Joo-Sung Vfl Bochum (Ger) 28 54 9

10. Ko Jeong-Woon Ilhwa Chonma 27 31 5

11. Seo Jung-Won L.G. Cheetahs 23 37 9

14. Choi Dae-Sik Hyundai Horang-I 29 3 0

16. Ha Seok-Ju Daewoo Royals 26 31 13

19. Choi Moon-Sik Ilhwa Chonma 23 20 4
FORWARDS:

15. Cho Jin-Ho Ilhwa Chonma 21 4 2

18. Hwang Sun-Hong POSCO Atoms 25 47 20

The Koreans (South) first participated in the World Cup in 1954, losing

miserably to Turkey and Hungary by ridiculous scores. Between then and the

early 1980's, Korean soccer was outshone by Malaysian and Middle Eastern teams

regularly, although North Korea shocked the world in the 1966 World Cup by

upsetting Italy, advancing to the second round, and nearly eliminating

Portugal, leading 3-0 until Eusebio scored 4 goals to put them out. This is all

ancient history and has no bearing on Korean soccer today.

In 1983, the impossible happened - the South Korean youth team was eliminated

from the World Youth Championships Asian qualifying, but the North Korean team,

which had qualified, rioted after a game in Kuwait, beating several officials

over call disputes and caused FIFA to disqualify them. They were replaced by

South Korea. The Korean team, trained, led, and mostly handpicked by the

legendary Park Jung Nam, leapt at this second chance, qualifying for the second

round. In the quarterfinal they met Portugal and BEAT THEM! The country was in

celebration, there was dancing in the streets, and the President declared that

if they beat their next opponents, Brazil, he would declare a national holiday.

All hell broke loose when the Red-Devils (moniker referring to the Korean

uniform) scored first against Brazil. They eventually lost 2-1, but this was

the beginning of South Korean prominence as we know it today.

The same youths who played for the 1983 team were the backbone of the 1986

World Cup team, with two notable exceptions; Cha Beom Gun, the star midfielder

based in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, and a 19 year old newcomer named

Kim Joo Sung, who now plays for Vfl Bochum, also in the Bundesliga. Among the

1983 'veterans' were Choi Soon Ho, the best forward South Korea have ever had,

and Byon Byung Joo, the fastest player in Asia at the time. This was the best

team ever fielded by South Korea, but was lacking in defence and in finishing.

They made it to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with little trouble, but were

grouped with Argentina, Italy and Bulgaria. The first game against Argentina

was a disaster, ending with the Korean coach in tears after his youngsters had

been destroyed.

The Koreans scored their first point in World Cup history in the next match by

drawing 1-1 with Bulgaria. This meant that they had to defeat defending

champions Italy to advance, and they were determined to at least try. Over 90

minutes against a team of overwhelming talent, they gave the Italians a run for

their money, scoring brilliantly and playing entertaining soccer. Cha Beom Gun

had the most attention, being constantly double and triple marked. It was the

defence that was found lacking in the end, and they lost 3-2.
By 1990, South Korea's dominance in Asia was taken for granted by many.

However, on a global scale, Asian soccer had no respect. Many had hoped that

the 1990 Italian World Cup would change some of that. Again, most of the team

comprised of veterans from the former squad. Choi Soon Ho was present again and

captained the team, additions included Hwangbo Kwan, a beefy midfielder who is

an Asian clone of Paul Gascoigne, Noh Jung Yoon, and Hwang Seon Hong, a tall,

quick forward who plays in Holland.
They qualified with some difficulty, managing a crucial win over Saudi Arabia.

In Italy, they were grouped with Belgium, Spain, And Uruguay, all enormous

soccer powers. The first match with Belgium was painful to watch, with

defensive ineptitude and uninspiring play the story for South Korea, and the

Belgians ran out easy 2-0 winners. The Korean fans were horrified at the team,