Korea/Japan vs. World XIThe Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Korea/Japan vs. World XI
January 3rd, 2001
Yokohama International Stadium, Japan. Att: 46,740
Accenture Dream Soccer
Japan-Korea XI (1) 1; Ko Jung Su 17"
World XI (0) 1; Prosineckic 72"
Uninspiring draw in a 'friendly' international promoted by Accenture, the former Andersen Consulting as part of their costly rebranding campaign.
Big stars Zidane, Maldini, Roberto Baggio and Rui Costa withdrew at the last minute after a change in Serie A schedules and Romario couldn't play due to injury.
Still keeper Jose Luis Chilavert, the Paraguayan extrovert, did his best to entertain the largely subdued crowd with a couple of trademark freekicks before dashing off after an hour to appear on TV.
Daniel Ortega, Lothar Mattheus, Tony Meola and Brian Roy also collected their appearance money for the World XI as did Kazu Miura for the combined Japan/Korea team.
While poor fare for the crowd, the game had one historic echo: it was the first time since the 1936 Olympics that a combined team of players from Japan and Korea had taken to the field. Back then, Korea was a Japanese colony and the inclusion of Koreans in the Japanese team, drew opposition from some Japanese, though not from any team-mates. They did rather well too, reaching the last eight.
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Soccerphile Ltd - All Rights Reserved