The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
The trophy is in Brazil. The fans have gone home. European leagues have kicked off a new season. What then of the many purpose-built stadiums in Japan? What has become of the venues that only two months ago played host to fans from around the world?
In order to avoid falling into the red, according to the Asahi Shinbun,
the municipalities that had the stadiums constructed are now scrambling to find tenants and uses for the venues. Some have remodeled for all weather use; others have sponsored contests to come up with ideas for how to best
use them.
The city of Kobe put up US$193 million as its share in the construction of Wing Stadium. So that it would be managed efficiently, the city has
had building company giants Obayashi and Kobe Steel manage the site. Still, annual maintenance fees alone are more than US$5 million. City officials recognize that 'soccer alone' is not going to fill the stadium. The local
soccer team, Vissel Kobe, has twenty home games in a year in the fist
division of Japan's J.League. The revenue from these games however will
not cover the maintenance fees; as a result, the city is trying to line
up rugby and American football games. In addition, restaurants, a gym,
a heated pool are all under construction and will be open to the public
next spring. A flea market is even being considered.
Farther north in Sendai, Miyagi Stadium is also struggling. In September,
it will play host to the aging Japanese boy-band SMAP; after that, though,
it is only booked for twenty days through March 2003. Like Kobe, the city
of Sendai has a first division J.League team, Vegalta. However, the team
is unwilling to leave its present city center ground to move out to the inconveniently located new stadium.
In Kyushu, Oita's Big Eye Stadium requires US$8 million to maintain; estimated revenues for the coming year are less than one-fifth of that.
Oita StadiumThe Japanese Mainichi Daily News reported that Japanese girls
infatuated with David Beckham are flocking on US$2,000 tours to Manchester
United's Old Trafford stadium to catch a glimpse of their idol's habitat.
The Beckham groupies known as 'Beckhammer' go to extraordinary lengths to get as close as possible to their man. Shukan Post reports the
story of 30 year-old Taeko: 'My life changed with the World Cup. Where
I once had eyes only for the band I liked, now I can only see Beckham.
I went and stayed at the hotel where he stayed while he was in Japan.
I examined the toilet he's supposed to have used from top to bottom. I
took loads of photos of it. Then I licked the toilet thoroughly. I can't
wait to get to Britain.'
Some girls prostitute themselves to raise the cash to follow Beckham,
nicknamed 'Goldenballs' by the British press.
Guus Hiddink, the Dutch coach who guided South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals is to sign a contract in September to become a technical adviser for the Korean Football Association. The PSV Eindhoven manager will travel to Korea to attend the Setember 7 inter-Korea friendly in Seoul. During his stay Hiddink will also finalize a US$1.6 million TV commercial contract with Kyobo Life Insurance.
Shimizu S-Pulse and Japan midfielder Kazuyuki Toda has criticised French coach Philippe Troussier's team selection for Japan's Round of 16 defeat
to Turkey. The hard-man midfielder, who models himself on Roy Keane, felt Troussier should not have changed a winning team for the match or substituted
Alessandro Santos and Junichi Inamoto at half-time.
'As a player, I can't say it is completely the boss' fault. I just believe things would have gome more smoothly if Mr. Troussier had stuck with the team that got us into the second round.'
Troussier himself may be about to take over as coach of Morocco, a country
where the enigmatic Frenchman has worked previously at club level.
The British Home Office has put paid to the dreams of Chinese striker Qu Bo and Japanese-Brazilian winger Alessandro Santos of playing in the English Premier League. Both players' applications for a work permit were rejected on the grounds that neither player had played in at least 75%
of their countries' internationals over the last two years.
Santos was due to sign for Charlton Athletic on a 5 year deal worth US$1.2
million a year to the player and Qu Bo was lined up by London rivals Tottenham
Hotspur.
The rejection of both players' applications brings into question why clubs
do not do their homework more thoroughly and properly research non EU
players' international records bofore attempting to sign them.
Charlton moved quickly to find cover for the left side of their midfield
by signing ex-Manchester United and Everton winger Jesper Blomqvist.
Typhoon Rusa, which has brought torrential rain and high winds to southern Korea, blew off part of the roof of Seogwipo stadium on Jeju Island. It is the second time in a month that the stadium, which was completed in time for the 2002 World Cup, has been damaged by a typhoon.
The Ronaldo transfer saga is finally over, just hours before the transfer deadline. The 25-year-old Brazilian striker and Golden Boot winner at the 2002 World Cup has left Italy's Inter Milan to join European champions Real Madrid in a deal worth around US$42 million. The move ranks sixth
in the biggest transfer fees of all time, some distance behind new club
colleague's Zinedine Zidane's US$66 million move from Juventus to Real.
Ronaldo is expected to earn around US$7 million a year but will not be
paid if he disappears to Brazil without the club's permission.
A Real player worth around US$10 million will be joining Inter as part of the same deal when the transfer window reopens in January and will be one of Raul Bravo, Flavio Conceicao, Oscar Minambres or Pedro Munitis.
Inter moved earlier in the day to sign Hernan Crespo from Lazio as a direct
replacement for Ronaldo, who made only a handful of appearances for Inter over the last two seasons as he recovered from serious knee injuries.
Date of Birth: 26/September/1976
Place of Birth: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Playing Career: Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte, Brazil (1993); 12 goals,
PSV Eindhoven, Holland (1994-1996); 42 goals, Barcelona, Spain (1996);
47 goals, Inter Milan, Italy (1997-2002); 42 goals, Real Madrid, Spain
(2002-)
The Federal Council of Italian Football has decided to block Italian clubs from signing players from non-EU countries after 31st August 2002 in attempt to pull Italian national and club football out of its current slump.
Junichi Inamoto, in his first start for new club Fulham scored a hat-trick,
as the English Premiership side defeated Serie A's Bologna in the Intertoto
Cup to advance to the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The
ex-Gamba Osaka and Arsenal midfielder is fulfilling the promise he showed
playing for Japan in the World Cup.
Shinjo Ono was also on target as Feyenoord won 2-0 away to Fenerbahce
in Turkey.
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
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