The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Goals in each half from Ronaldo and Guti were enough for Real Madrid to lift the World Club championship 2-0 in front of 66,070 fans at Yokohama's International Stadium against South American champions Olimpia from Paraguay. In an open but lacklustre contest Ronaldo was named man-of-the-match despite wasting a number of other opportunities to score. For Olimpia, Lopez hit a post and Benitez missed a sitter, but the Paraguayans faded badly after the interval. Roberto Carlos on the left was Real's most dangerous player and the Brazilian, taking his lead from David Beckham, fuelled speculation that he might end his career in Japan, which confirms the J.League's earlier status as a retirement home for overseas superstars.
FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, has been cleared of all charges of financial mismanagement by a ruling of the prosecutor's office in the Swiss canton of Zurich. The investigation into Blatter, which was initiated after a complaint by 11 members of the FIFA executive committee in May 13 2002, is now closed. "The complainants had accused Joseph Blatter of actions which they themselves had collectively approved," said the prosecutor's statement. "In this regard, the complaint was not only reprehensible, which is self-evident under the given circumstances, but also bordering on false accusation."
World Cup winners Brazil will be named FIFA Team of the Year at the World Player Gala in Madrid next week, the game's governing body announced.
Senegal, who reached the quarterfinals in their first ever World Cup final
appearance in the summer, will be named Mover of the Year, while World Cup
hosts, South Korea and Japan, will share the Fair Play award.
Brazil's Ronaldo and Mia Hamm of the USA are the hot favourites to scoop the Player of the Year awards.
Independiente, the "Red Devils" of Argentina won their first championship
in eight years, ending 3 points above Boca Juniors. They beat San Lorenzo 3-0 in their final match.
Historically, Independiente is the third most successful club in Argentina
after River Plate and Boca Juniors.
Bolivar became the Bolivian Champions and finished the season by beating Mariscal Braun 4-0 away from home. Striker Joaquin Boterohas scored a record-breaking 49 goals in helping his team to the title.
Danubio will face Nacional, who won the first stage, in a two-leg final to decide the Uruguayan Championship. Nacional's players have not been paid for 5 months.
Ghana's Asante Kotoko and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco clash in this weekend's African Cup Winners' Cup at Kumasi's Sports stadium in Ghana with Wydad holding a narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg in Casablanca last month.
Manchester United will inaugurate the New Lincoln Financial Field - home of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles - in Philadelphia in an August 3 friendly as part of their four-game preseason tour of the US. United are scheduled to play Italian side Juventus at Giants Stadium in New Jersey at the end of July.
Former Japan coach Philippe Troussier claimed earlier in the week he had been approached by the Republic of Ireland to manage the Irish national team. The FAI responded that this was untrue and that "Philippe Troussier's agent approached the FAI on his behalf, and sent in his CV for the job." Troussier, who is recovering from knee-surgery - has not been ruled out by the FAI for the post but is not among the favorites to succeed Mick McCarthy, who stepped down after poor results in the Euro 2004 qualifiers and continuing fall-out from the Roy Keane affair.
One of British football's most famous landmarks - Wembley's twin towers - were unceremoniuosly bulldozed on Friday as the crumbling west London
stadium is demolished to make way for a new US$1.2 billion, 90,000 seat
ground. The innovative design will replace the old twin towers with a
133m high 'triumphal' arch.
The new national stadium will be the most expensive sports arena ever built and despite underwriting from the FA, the National Lottery and Credit
Suisse First Boston, there are fears that the new venture will fail to
attract enough corporate business for its estimated 18,000 'premium' seats
and 160 executive boxes, which are being offered to prospective clients for a 10-year period on behalf of the FA by sports marketing company IMG.
Voices have been raised in the Football Supporters' Federation that the
new stadium will have an 'elitist' atmosphere as corporate clients will
not have to rub shoulders with ordinary fans. The corporate suits will
enjoy their gourmet meals and browse an exclusive concourse of restaurants,
bars and shops. A new rail line will also run from Marylebone Station
to ferry the 'fat cats' to the stadium.
The new Wembley is scheduled to open in time for the 2006 FA Cup final,
complete with a retractable roof and provision to build a prefabricated athletics track for major international events.
2002 was a trying season for the Yokohama Marinos, once a perennial powerhouse in the first division of the J.League. This year featured the loss of star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, who bade farewell to the port city club to move to Serie A team Reggina. That and injuries ultimately led to the sacking of Brazilian coach Sebastiao Lazaroni in October after the team got off to a slow start to the second half of the season. Yoshiaki Shimojo took over as a caretaker manager until the end of the current season. In his place, Marinos fans can look forward to former Japan coach Takeshi Okada, who has agreed to lead the team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Okada took Japan to its first ever World Cup final in 1998. He was widely criticized, however, for the team's insipid play in France, in which Japan lost all three of its games and only managed a single goal; he resigned following Japan's hasty exit from the French tournament. As one of only four clubs to have ever won the J.League championship since the league's inception in 1993, the team's supporters may be forgiven for any apprehension they may have over being subjected to Okada's overly conservative tactics.
Former German international, Pierre Littbarski will be returning to Yokohama FC, the second division side he managed during the 1999-2000 season. A member of Germany's World Cup team in 1982, 1986, and 1990, "Litty" ended his career in Japan, playing a year at J.League team JEF United and then a final season for Japan Football League side Brummel Sendai.
Takahiro Kimura is out of work following a disaster of a season at Hiroshima. The manager of Sanfrecce resigned following the team's relegation to the second division of the J.League. Sources say that he will be replaced by Assistant Coach Takeshi Ono.
Japan striker Naohiro Takahara will spend a week training with German side Hamburg SV. Takahara is apparently considering moving to the Bundesliga, and Hamburg has expressed strong interest in the 23-year-old. Takahara led the J.League in scoring this season, topping the charts with 26 goals. He was a major contributor to Jubilo Iwata's championship season. Jubilo president Takanori Matsuzaki, however, is fuming that he was not informed about the planned trip to Germany, which will mean that Takahara will miss training with Japan's under-21 squad, on which the speedy striker participates as an over-age player. According to the Japanese media, though, Matsuzaki has gotten over his fit of petulance, and Takahara is on his way to Europe¸perhaps for good.
In a blow for Tokyo Verdy 1969 fans, Brazilian striker Edmundo is to leave the club after failing to reach an agreement over a new contract. The 31-year-old former international striker, nicknamed 'The Animal' has been a success in Japan, scoring 16 goals this season and keeping his fearsome temper in check. Don't be surprised to see him snapped up by another J.League club.
66-year-old Czech coach Josef Venglos will leave JEF United Ichihara at the end of the season after just one year at the club, citing ill-health as the reason
for his decision to quit.
Shimizu S-Pulse have named Takashi Oki, currently in charge of J2 Ventforet Kofu, as the man to succeed Yugoslav Zdravko Zemunovic after a disappointing season.
Vegalta Sendai's Brazilian defender, Ricardo, has been sacked by the club after the 25-year-old was arrested and fined ¥300,000 (US$2,400) for driving without a license and crashing into two taxis in a late-night incident after Vegalta's last game of the season.
SOUTH KOREA - The FA Cup kicked off last week and the Anyang Cheetahs were the first big-name team to fall going down 1-0 in extra time to amateur
side Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
The big guns from South Korea's military team Sangmoo, who are set to join the K.League next year, defeated Korea University 3-0. The FA Cup, Korea's second most important trophy after the K.League title dates back to 1996.
Monochrome Soccer Images from the Far East
Color photos of Japan World Cup 2002 I
Color photos of Japan World Cup 2002 II
Color photos of Japan World Cup 2002 III
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
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