The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
FIFA President Sepp Blatter capped a year of personal triumph by marrying someone young enough to be his daughter - Graziella Bianca, 40, a former dolphin trainer and friend of Blatter's 39-year-old daughter Corinne. The loving couple tied the knot in a low-key registry office ceremony in Valais, Switzerland.
FIFA's decision to cut South America's World Cup quota from 4 and a half
to four berths, to allow Oceania a direct place at the finals, may have
inspired an unlikely co-hosting bid from Peru, Venezeula, Colombia, Bolivia
and Ecuador to stage the 2014 World Cup. However, despite the optimism of
Manuel Braga, the president of the Peru Football Federation (FPF), it is
hard to see this proposal getting off the ground.
Tunisia has launched an official bid to stage the 2010 World Cup, which
will be held for the first time in Africa. Tunisia may later make a joint
bid with neighbouring Morocco, which along with South Africa, have tabled
official bids with FIFA.
DC United, who have not made the play-offs since 1999 has released 3 long-serving players to clear salary-cap space to bring in fresh talent. Jaime Moreno, Eddie Pope and Richie Williams have been traded to the NY/New Jersey Metro Stars in exchange for defender Mike Petke, a first-round draft pick in 2003 and a future player allocation.
Boca Juniors have announced the return of coach Carlos Bianchi almost a
year after he ended a successful three-and-a-half year's at the Buenos Airies
club, which coincided with the team winning 3 league championships and the
Toyota Cup.
Chilean legend Ivan Zamorano has made a childhood dream come true by joining
Colo Colo. 'This is a very special day for me, not just as a professional
but as a human being,' the 35-year-old former Real and Inter striker told
reporters. Colo Colo, who recently emerged from a financial crisis and have
just won the Chilean title will pay Zamorano's wages directly from funds
made available by club's sponsors.
South American champions and this year's losing Toyota Cup finalists, Olimpia of Paraguay have promised to settle a dispute with Celso Ayala which is
threatening their home stadium. Olimpia owe US$208,000 to their former defender
Ayala following his transfer to Argentina's Rosario Central in 1995. 'The
club is not going to be auctioned off. Olimpia are going to pay the money
and the order will be lifted,' the club's legal director Alvaro Arias said.
English Premier League club Fulham have scrapped earlier plans for a £100 million redevelopment of their riverside home - Craven Cottage and are now considering cheaper options. Costs have "spiralled out of all proportion" and the plans have been attacked by local residents who formed an action group to fight the redevelopment. Chairman and Harrods' owner Mohamed Al Fayed called on Fulham supporters to remain patient as they continue to ground share Loftus Road with nearby Queen's ParK Rangers.
FIFA is dropping the requirement that referees retire at age 45 and will allow those who are older to continue officiating. The move is part of FIFA's plans to improve the quality of refereeing, which came in for much crticism at this year's World Cup.
The former coaches of Senegal and Portugal, Bruno Metsu and Humberto Coelho, are reportedly on the list of managers the Korean FA wishes to interview to take over the team. Metsu is currently working in the United Arab Emirates with Al Ain and Coelho was coaching the Moroccan national side until this summer.
England and Manchester midfielder David Beckham makes the news this week by..scoring for the first time in over 3 months. Good goal it was too, an exquisite chip from Sebastian Veron's through ball, that gave United a 2-0 win over Birmingham City.
This summer's World Cup final was played at Yokohama's International Stadium.
Now the local municipal government, who administer the stadium, are welcoming
applications to hold weddings on the pitch in an effort to boost revenues.
Atsushi Takeda, 33, dressed in a Japan national team strip and holding
a football married Kumiko, 27, who wore a traditional wedding dress. The
happy couple were reportedly estatic to be married at the empty 70,000
seater stadium.
Many of Japan's World Cup stadiums face financial hardship now the event is over.
The Paintura Pitch Project 12 Scrawled Soccer Balls exhibit is currently being held at the Parco Museum of Art and Beyond in Tokyo. The show was organized by two groups of designers: Tokyo's Stoique and London's Scrawl Collective. The artists'who include Kate Gibb, Will Barras, Kostas, and Genta'make their living as illustrators, graffiti artists, and more. Each of the 12 artists was given a soccer ball to use as his or her canvass. The project was born out of a love of soccer and doubles as a benefit for Cameroonian children. At the exhibit, sports manufacturer Puma is selling jerseys designed by the artists, and part of the proceeds will go towards buying soccer wear for children. The exhibit will run through January 6th. Parco is a five-minute walk from Shibuya Station on Tokyo's Yamanote circle line For information: 81-3-3464-5111.
Kyoto Purple Sanga will take on Kashima Antlers in the J.League season climax - the Emperor's Cup on January 1 2003. Kyoto who defeated recently relegated Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 in their semi-final will be appearing in their first cup final. Opponents Kashima Antlers, who came through their semi-final with Ichihara JEF United 2-0 have twice won the cup and will be heavily favoured to beat Gert Engels' young side.
PSV Eindhoven more than matched Kyoto Purple Sanga's million-dollar-plus offer to keep Korea international Park Ji Sung in Japan. The Dutch club snared the J.League standout in the largest ever transfer fee paid to a Korean player. PSV lured the World Cup star to Holland in a deal that will award him a $4.5 million dollar contract over three-and-a-half years. There he will be reunited with coach Guus Hiddink who led Korea to the semifinals of the World Cup.
From the boom years (1993 and 1994) at the beginning to the near fatal collapse
in popularity thereafter (1995-1997), the slow struggle to get fans back
in the stands (1998-2001) to the boomlet brought on by the World Cup (2002),
the J.League has taken a roller coaster ride in the ten years of its existence.
When the league was founded in 1993, it was the newest thing in town, a
fad that had Japanese professional baseball nervous for several years. Sleek,
long-haired young men in tight shorts and colorful jerseys were pulling
in on average 20,000 fans (many of whom were young women) to every match.
Big-name foreigners at the twilight of their careers graced the league with
their presence for hundreds of millions of yen. The sponsors didn't mind,
though: advertising rates were sky-high and everything was 'J'in those days.
Along with the Japanese economy, though, the bloom went off the rose of
professional soccer in Japan, and the league started what seemed to be an
inexorable decline. By the 1997 season, barely 10,000 fans were showing
up at league matches. Sponsors began cutting back on their largesse to the
clubs, or, in some cases, even bailing out altogether most notably All Nippon
Airways, which along with Sato Kogyo, cut ties with the Yokohama Flugels
in 1998. In spite of Japan's first appearance in a World Cup, in France
in 1998, that year was perhaps the low-point in the decade long history
of the J.League.
At that point, though, the League began to pull back from the brink. Attendance
over the next three seasons climbed back to and held steady at more than
11,000 a game. Asia's first World Cup, co-hosted in the summer of 2002 in
Korea and Japan, rekindled interest in local soccer'and attendance shot
up to nearly 17,000 a game in the 2001 season. In spite of this, J.League
officials worried that, having just experienced the excitement of soccer
at the highest level in their own cities, interest would wane among fans
during the second stage of the 2002 season. It didn't: attendance was 16,368
for the just-ended season.
The clubs have become financially more shrewd, and they have made in-roads
into their communities via youth leagues and other revenue-making ventures.
Ten years ago there were 10 teams in the J.League, some twenty-eight are
now competing. "We've done a hell of a job to get where we are today,"said
League Chairman Masaru Suzuki.
Japan's most capped international player, defender Masami Ihara, has announced his intention to retire. After ten years in the J.League, Ihara will end a storied career. He led Japan at the France World Cup, and was selected for Best Eleven five seasons in row. The thirty-five year-old spent most of his pro career at Yokohama Marinos, which he took to a J.League championship in 1995. In the same year, he was voted Asian Player of the Year. In 2000, he moved to Jubilo; since 2001 he has started for Urawa Reds. In total, he wore the blue for Japan in 123 international matches.
Former Japan national team player Motohiro Yamaguchi has left Nagoya Grampus
8 to join J.2's Albirex Niigata. The 33-year-old defensive midfielder won
59 caps for Japan, played at France 98 and is only the third player to rack
up over 300 J.League appearances.
Yoshinori Senbiki, will take over as manager of Sagan Tosu from next season. The 38-year-old previously played for Urawa Reds. Senbiki takes over from Hiroshi Soejima who is moving to take charge of J.1 Vissel Kobe.
Yokohama F Marinos have released Brazilian defender Nasa and reportedly
put in a bid to tempt World Cup winning captain Cafu to join the club for
the start of the new season. Marinos have also been linked with Sanfrecce
forward Tatsuhiko Kubo.
SOUTH KOREA - The K.League will be expanding to 11 teams next season
with the addition of Taegu FC. Taegu FC, a publicly-owned team without
significant corporate sponsorship, has struggled financially snce its foundation and will take on the best of the K.League with mostly former
amateur players who failed to make the grade.
Manager Park Jong-hwan, currently in the United States, is scouting for
foreign talent in Mexico and South America. However, the inclusion of the military team Sangmu has been put on hold for the time being.
National team player Yoon Jong-hwan will return to the K-League to play with reigning champions Songnam Chunma from next season, after three years with Japan's Cerezo Osaka. Songnam paid a transfer fee of 600 million won ($500,000) to Cerezo to secure the 29-year-old attacking midfielder.
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
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