not because they lost but because their performance was so poor. The Korean
team carefully reassessed their options, figured out that it was pointless to
attempt to outplay their opponents, and went back to the only game they could
recall any success; the 1986 match against Italy.
The next game they returned with the game South Korea loves; midfield-based
fast-attack, counterattack soccer. Spain didn't see it coming, but it hit them
5 minutes into the game, when Byun Byung-Joo materialized out of nowhere to
receive a perfect pass from the swarming midfield and dashed to find himself
one-on-one with the Spanish goalkeeper. He missed. If he had been more patient
and more controlled, the match could have been very different. The Spanish
recovered to score first through Michel. It looked like business as usual for
South Korea but an equalizer arrived just before half-time when a direct free
kick from Hwangbo Kwan, curved over the wall and into the far corner of the
net. In the second half, though, it was indeed business as usual as Michel
scored twice more and the South Korean offence spluttered. South Korea now had
no chance of advancing except if they beat Uruguay by 6 and Belgium won. The
game seemed pointless, but spoiling Uruguay's chances would have been fun. The
pace was again slowed down in favour of defence, with absolutely no chances
until Fonseca scored a late offside goal and got Uruguay, a disappointment that
year, into the second round.
South Korean soccer, once again measured against the powers that be, looked as
miserable as it would ever get. But, in 1991, another surprise happened, again
involving North Korea; the governments of North and South Korea agreed to
combine the team for the World Youth Championships, which South Korea had
qualified for and North Korea had not. The team was assembled equally between
North and South, and they went to Portugal, not knowing what lay in store for
them.
The first match seemed hopeless; the opponents being Argentina, with young star
Maradona Esnaider. The team contained defenders who were mainly from the South
and forwards mainly from the North. Three defenders in particular, Kang Chul,
Lee Im-Saeng, and Lee Tae-Hong, all from the South, and all possible members of
this year's World Cup team, were highly effective, because they were shutting
down the Argentine attack and even threatening themselves. The defenders and
midfielders from the South put the pressure on, while the North's forwards were
also wreaking havoc upon the Argentine defence with numerous attacks. Esnaider,
marked by Lee Tae-Hong, was thoroughly frustrated and rendered ineffective. In
the 89th minute, the Argentine defenders fouled a Korean outside the penalty
area, giving away a direct free kick. The shot bounced off of the wall of
defenders, but Cho In-Chol, a North Korean midfielder struck the ball from 30
yards out and Korea won 1-0.
The last International tournament the Koreans played in outside Asia was in the
1992 Barcelona Olympics. There they played brilliantly against highly regarded
Sweden, but only managed to draw 1-1. Striker Suh Jung Won controlled a long
pass over the goalkeeper with his chest and spun around him to score. They drew
both their remaining games and failed to advamce further.
The present team has members of the 1990, 1991 and 1992 squad who should have
a good idea of what World class soccer is about, although it's arguable whether
they can play it.They qualified for the 1994 World Cup Finals by getting
through the first and second rounds of Asian qualifying. The dramatic end came
on the very last day of the second round when Iraq held Japan allowing South
Korea to qualify with Saudi Arabia.
Some very notable players on the present team are:
NOH JUNG YOON (Midfield, Sanfrecce Hiroshima(JAP)):
In my opinion, the best player in Korea today. A solid defender and smart
passer, he figures in almost every goal that South Korea scores. His uncanny
passing is the main reason the team can threaten without a tall, physical
forward. He has a very good long range shot.
SUH JUNG WON (Forward, L.G. Cheetahs):
One striker who would do OK even without Noh. Quick and explosive, he is the
closest thing Asia has to the likes of Voeller and Van Basten. In the second
round of Asian qualifying he only scored one goal, but this was mainly due to
very heavy marking by the opposition.
KIM JOO SUNG (Midfield/Forward, Vfl Bochum(GER)):
The only player remaining from the 1986 World Cup finals. A great player, but
he does tend to disappear in the most important games. Perhaps this, too, is
on account of heavy marking. Often tries to dribble too much, but is by far
the best ball player South Korea have. Plays for Bundesliga II's Vfl Bochum.
HWANG SUN HONG (Forward, POSCO Atoms):
A relatively tall but also quick scorer, who mainly scores with headers from
crosses from Suh and Kim. Plays for a Dutch team.
KOH JUNG WOON (Forward, Ilhwa Chonma):
Once regarded as the best striker in South Korea, but is known to make stupid
descisions such as trying to beat four defenders when a teammate is free to
pass to. Shows touches of brilliance but must use his head more.
GU SANG BEOM (Midfield, Daewoo Royals):
Strong midfield general and captain of the team.
Preparation
-----------
16.2.94 H Romania 1-2
20.2.94 H Malaysia 5-1
26.2.94 A Colombia 2-2
12.3.94 A USA 1-1
1.5.94 H Cameroon 2-2
5.6.94 USA Ecuador 1-2
11.6.94 USA Honduras 3-0
===============================================================================
S P A I N
Fernando Rodriguez Pereyra
===============================================================================
COACH: Javier Clemente
GOALKEEPERS: Age Caps Goals
1. Andoni Zubizarreta [C] Barcelona 33 86 0
13. Jose Luis Canizares Celta de Vigo 25 2 0
22. Julian Lopetegui Logrones 28 1 0
DEFENDERS:
2. Albert Ferrer Barcelona 24 15 0
3. Jorge Otero Celta de Vigo 25 4 0
4. Francisco Jose Camarasa Valencia 27 7 0
5. Antuna Fernandez Abelardo Gijon 24 7 2
12. Sergi Barjuan Barcelona 22 1 1
17. Salvador Gonzales 'VORO' Deportivo La Coruna 31 3 0
18. Rafael Alkorta Real Madrid 26 17 0
20. Miguel Angel Nadal Barcelona 28 11 0
MIDFIELD:
6. Fernando Hierro Real Madrid 26 22 6
7. Jan Andoni Goikoetxea Barcelona 29 20 0
8. Julen Guerrero Athletic Bilbao 20 7 4
9. Josep Guardiola Barcelona 23 9 1
10. Jose Maria Bakero Barcelona 31 25 7
11. Aitor Beguiristain Barcelona 30 19 5
15. Jose Luis Perez Camonero Atletico Madrid 27 3 2
21. Luis Enrique Martinez Real Madrid 24 4 0
FORWARDS:
14. Juan Castano Gijon 23 3 1
16. Felipe Minambres Tenerife 29 3 1
19. Julio Salinas Barcelona 32 41 16
Spain's first official international match was played in 1920 in the Olympic
Games held in Antwerp, and the team went on to take the silver medal. Spain
missed the first World Cup in 1930 because they couldn't afford to get to
Uruguay for the tournament and therefore their first World Cup was in 1934
where they were eliminated by Italy in the quarter-finals. In 1938 Spain was
engaged in civil war, so their next appearance in World Cup finals was in 1950,
where they defeated England for the first time in their history and finished in
4th place.
They failed to qualify for the next two World Cups, but in 1962 they had their
best team ever with the likes of Di Stefano, Gento and other members of the all
conquering Real Madrid team. However, they were placed in a group with Brazil
and Czechoslovakia (the eventual finalists) and were knocked out in the first
round. Two years later, they made up for this disappointment by beating USSR in
the final of the European Championship, but they were again handed a tough
group (Argentina, West Germany and Switzerland) in the 1966 finals and failed
to progress from the first round.
There followed another 12 year wait before Spain qualified again in 1978, and
incredibly, they failed to progress from a group containing Brazil, Austria and
Sweden, but in 1982, Spain hosted the World Cup finals and hopes were high that
they could finally put their underachievement on a World stage firmly behind
them.
Spain's group looked fairly straightforward as it contained Honduras,
Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, but it wouldn't turn out that way. After
beating Yugoslavia 2-1 and disappointingly drawing 1-1 with Honduras, Spain
needed to draw with Northern Ireland in their final match to top the group and
have an easier group in the second phase. However, it was not to be and to
cries of disbelief, Gerry Armstrong scored for Northern Ireland and Spain were
in a second phase group containing West Germany and England with only the top
team qualifying for the semi-finals. Having lost the first game 2-1 to West
Germany and the seen West Germany hold England to a 0-0 draw, Spain were
eliminated before they played the final group match against England who they
held to a 0-0 draw, so disappointment for the Spanish fans again.
Two years later, Spain managed to reach the final of the European Championship,
playing some sparkling football along the way, but a Platini inspired France
were too strong in the final winning 2-0.
The 1986 World Cup in Mexico was an up and down affair for Spain where they
competed in a first round group with Brazil, Northern Ireland and Algeria. The
first game against Brazil was a controversial affair because Spain had a shot
which came down off the underside of the bar and crossed the line, but the goal
was not given and Brazil ran out 1-0 victors. Spain won their remaining 2
games, including a 2-1 victory over Northern Ireland to take revenge for the
defeat 4 years earlier, to qualify for the next phase in second place. Here
they met the most exciting team in the tournament, Denmark, and absolutely
destroyed them. At half-time the score was 1-1 with no hint of the demolition
job that was to come in the second half. After the break, though, Spain's star
striker Emilio Butragueno found that everything he touched turned to gold and
in scoring 4 goals, he helped the Spanish run out 5-1 winners. Spain were now
being talked about as possible winners of the trophy, particularly as their
quarter final match was against a solid but unspectacular Belgian side.
However, Spain again flattered to deceive and were held 1-1 by the Belgians who
went on to take the match 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
Onto 1990 and Spain were drawn in what looked a tricky group with Belgium,
Uruguay and South Korea. The first game against Uruguay was a nervy affair with
both teams missing chances and the final score was 0-0. The second game against
South Korea looked an easy win on paper, but Spain didn't impose themselves
until the second half, finally winning 3-1. Gaining revenge against Belgium,
2-1 in the last game meant that they qualified for the round of 16 as group
winners. This paired them with Yugoslavia and in a agme which either side could
have won in normal time, Spain again regretted missed opportunities as they
lost 2-1 in extra time.
Two years ago, Spain won the Olympic football tournament in Barcelona by
beating Poland 3-2 in the final, and a number of the players from that team
make up the team that Spain will field in this year's World Cup finals.
In June 1992, Javier Clemente became the new coach of the Spanish team
replacing Vicente Miera who was in charge when Spain beat Albania 3-0 in the
first of their qualifying games.
Official games since June 1992:
Latvia-Spain 0-0
N.Ireland-Spain 0-0
Spain-Ireland 0-0
Spain-Latvia 5-0
Spain-N.Ireland 3-1
Denmark-Spain 1-0
Spain-Lithuania 5-0
Lithuania-Spain 0-2
Albania-Spain 1-5
Ireland-Spain 1-3
Spain-Denmark 1-0
Friendly games since January 1994:
Spain-Portugal 2-2
Spain-Poland 1-1
Spain-Croatia 0-2
Finland-Spain 1-2
Canada-Spain 0-2
When Clemente took over, he made drastic changes to the team, the "quinta del
Buitre" (Michel, Butragueno & Co.) was discarded and he tried to blend
experience with young blood from the Olympic gold medal winning team. It was a
tough start because of the team's inexperience and youth, and they had a lot of
bad luck in their first two qualifying games in Latvia and Northern Ireland but
managed to come away from both games with goalless draws. The home match
against the Republic of Ireland also produced a goalless draw, which wasn't a
bad result as Spain played most of the game with 10 men. After good home
victories against Latvia and Northern Ireland, Spain went to Denmark and after
having 2 good penalty appeals turned down, they lost 1-0. Spain then won their
next four games including a superb 3-1 victory in Dublin against the Republic
of Ireland, which left them needing to avoid defeat at home to Denmark to
qualify for the finals. Their cause wasn't helped when goalkeeper Zubizaretta
was sent off early in the game, but Spain still managed to take the lead and
the replacement goalkeeper was quite superb pulling off a series of heroic
saves, particularly in the second half.
Clemente has changed the national side from a technically gifted side with
very little strength under pressure to a side who are far stronger mentally
with very courageous players. This is similar to the Spanish style of the
1930's and 1950's. Spain have been drawn in a relatively tough group with
Germany, Bolivia and South Korea, but they should progress to the second phase
without too much difficulty. From here, anything less than a place in the
quarter finals is a failure for this team, but with this team they could be a
very dangerous outsider and go even further.
Key players:
JOSEP GUARDIOLA (Midfield, Barcelona):
A young player who has extraordinary vision and passing ability.
FERNANDO HIERRO (Utility, Real Madrid):
A fine striker of the ball who can score from anywhere on the pitch.
Simon Gleave, E-Mail s...@ssru.city.ac.uk Phone +44-71-477-8000 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 D
===============================================================================
World Cup Finals Records:
Team P W D L F A Apps Best Performance(s)
Argentina 48 24 9 15 82 59 10 Winners (1978, 1986)
Bulgaria 16 0 6 10 11 35 5 Second Round (1986)
Greece -- -- -- -- -- -- 0
Nigeria -- -- -- -- -- -- 0
I'm sure we all remember sitting down to watch another boring World Cup opener
four years ago between Argentina and Cameroon, realising during the game that
Cameroon were a bit special, particularly in their tackling and then staring
with disbelief when they took the lead and went on to beat the World Champions.
Well, this time Argentina find themselves in the same group as the latest
African pretender, Nigeria, who are fresh from winning the African Nations Cup.
I don't think anybody would disagree with me that Nigeria are a more
accomplished team than Cameroon were and I think Group D will be between 1990's
losing finalists and 1994's African champions.
We all know about Argentina, they've appeared in 3 of the last 4 finals,
winning twice, but a lot of the players are now veterans, particularly
Maradona who is surely the greatest player of modern times. They may struggle
to do as well this time, but they shouldn't have too many problems qualifying
for the second phase.
Nigeria, on the other hand, are a relatively young and vibrant side who have a
more solid defence than is usually associated with African sides. Personally, I
think Nigeria have a great chance of reaching the quarter finals of the
tournament and they could well win this group, the only negative is their lack
of experience at this level as they have qualified for the first time in their
history.
Bulgaria have an astonishing record in World Cup finals - they've qualified
five times, played 16 matches and won none. The Bulgarians have never been in
the first division of European football, but this is an incredible sequence,
which they could well break this time around. They showed real fighting spirit
to qualify by means of scoring a last minute goal in Paris, and if they can
bring this to the finals along with highly skilled players like Stoichkov and
Kostadinov, the second round should be reached, albeit in third place.
Greece are very hard to score against, but if you can score once they lose
their composure and this is of no use whatsoever in a tournament of this type.
They may be able to scrape the odd draw, but it is very difficult to see them
beating any of their three rivals and therefore progressing.
Nigeria and Argentina will have a close fight to win the group with Nigeria
just coming out on top, with Bulgaria coming in third and Greece bottom.
===============================================================================
A R G E N T I N A
Sergio Adeff
===============================================================================
COACH: Alfio Basile
GOALKEEPERS: Age Caps Goals
1. Sergio Goycochea River Plate 30 46 0
12. Luis Islas Independiente 28 26 0
22. Hugo Scopponi Newell's Old Boys 33 0 0
DEFENDERS:
2. Sergio Vazquez Universidad Catolica (Chile) 28 33 0
3. Jose Antonio Chamot Foggia (Ita) 25 8 1
4. Roberto Sensini Parma (Ita) 28 19 0
6. Oscar Ruggeri San Lorenzo 32 94 9
13. Fernando Caceres Real Zaragoza (Spa) 25 9 0
15. Jorge Borelli Racing Club 29 15 0
16. Hernan Diaz River Plate 29 17 1
MIDFIELDERS:
5. Fernando Redondo Tenerife (Spa) 24 22 1
8. Jose Horacio Basualdo Velez Sarsfield 31 29 0
10. Diego Maradona [C] unattached 33 88 33
14. Diego Simeone Seville (Spa) 23 22 4
18. Hugo Perez Independiente 25 5 1
20. Leonardo Rodriguez Borussia Dortmund (Ger) 27 29 3
21. Alejandro Mancuso Boca Juniors 26 8 1
FORWARDS:
7. Claudio Caniggia AS Roma (Ita) 27 41 12
9. Gabriel Batistuta Lazio (Ita) 25 32 20
11. Ramon Medina Bello Yokohama Marinos (Jap) 27 16 5
17. Ariel Ortega River Plate 20 4 0
19. Abel Balbo AS Roma (Ita) 27 18 5
Argentina in the World Cup Finals
---------------------------------
Argentina appeared in ten previous World Cup finals (1930-34, 1958-66, 1974-90)
having won two of them (1978 and 1986). Only once (in 1970) Argentina did not
qualify for the WC finals. (the other absences being of its own choosing;
before WWII to protest the purchase of its players by European clubs and after
WWII to protest not being allowed to host the WC.) Argentina is the current
runner up, having lost the WC'90 Final with Germany (0-1) with a doubtful
penalty kick and finishing the game with nine players. However, other than
reaching the final, Argentina's overall performance in WC'90 was disappointing,
as the team played a defensive game that at times seemed too harsh. They won
two games thanks only to the goalkeeper, Goycoechea, who during and after the
World Cup displayed an uncanny ability to stop penalty kicks, and their best
player, Maradona, had a foot injury from the outset and never reached the
outstanding level of play he exhibited in WC'86 while nevertheless, the team
revolved around his play.
Argentina attained an excellent level after WC'90 and brilliantly won the
Chile'91 South America Cup. Since losing the Final in WC'90, Argentina, having
changed coach from Bilardo (the coach from WC'86 to WC'90) to Basile (current)
produced an extraordinary streak of 33 undefeated games which also included the
first America Cup (Ecuador'93), an expanded version of the traditional South
America Cup. However, Argentina's game was increasingly criticized as reverting
to the defensive, rough play of WC'90, and many were expecting a hard fall,
which came, not surprisingly against the excellent team of Colombia during the
qualifiers, in a game played in Colombia (2-1). Basile wanted to fend off
criticism and recover confidence, thus he ordered an all-out attack for the
second leg against Colombia played in Buenos Aires. It ended in a nightmare
for Argentina, with a 5-0 defeat in the glorious stadium of the WC'78 where
Argentina had won its first World Cup. A crisis ensued, and Maradona, who
wasn't expected to play for Argentina any longer, made a much heralded return
to the team, and was indeed valuable in securing the tickets to USA'94
overcoming Australia in two hard-fought games. A diminished Argentina reached
the finals last in the 24-team count and went into the pre World Cup friendlies
severely criticized, locally and abroad. However, the team produced a 2-1 win
against a full strength Germany in Miami, in a game were it attacked with
confidence and outplayed the current champs in their first encounter after the
'90 Final.
A second friendly was lost 2-0 to Brasil in Recife, Brasil (the first time that
Brasil had beaten Argentina in five years), and a third friendly was won 3-1
against Morocco in Salta, Argentina. Participation in the Kirik Cup was
cancelled because Japan denied an entry visa to the team Captain, Maradona (the
team thus refused to go), due to his past cocaine addiction, and another
friendly was hastily arranged with Chile in Santiago. This friendly ended in a
3-3 draw that exhibited both Argentina's continuous - in the last few years -
problems in defense and its new found attacking effectiveness. In fact
Argentina now have an extraordinary array of attacking players both in the
midfield line (with Maradona, Redondo, Simeone, Leo Rodriguez), and in attack
(with Caniggia, Balbo, Batistuta, Medina Bello, Ortega). However, the defence
is in disarray mainly because Basile insists in maintaining a leader who is now
old and slow in Ruggeri (who was an extraordinary player in past WCs,) and some
rather mediocre players (Basualdo and Borelli), while the few with quality and
youth are isolated and thus unable to reaffirm themselves (Vazquez, Chamot,
Sensini).
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