The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Two England fans were shot by security guards
hired by a bar in Bratislava. The incident took place near the England
team's accommodation, the Carlton Radisson Hotel.
Gareth Jones was shot in the throat and Phil Holland in the leg.
Police investigating the incident said they had recovered sixteen cartridges from the bar.
The whereabouts of all of the security guards is unknown at the time of
writing.
Following the shooting of two England fans in the Slovakian capital (see above)
violence also broke out in the stadium as police and England supporters
clashed during England's 2-1 win in Group 7 of the European Championship
qualifying round. The police baton-charged England fans who replied by hurling
missiles.
After a trouble free World Cup in Japan it appears hooligan elements are again causing trouble with England away from home, potentially bad news for the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal when more England fans are expected to attend than made the long journey to the Far East.
16 known hooligans were prevented from travelling to Slovakia from UK airports before the match.
The game was also marred by the now almost commonplace racial abuse of England's
black players in continental Europe.
Manchester United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been accused of indecent assault while in South Africa. A lawyer representing Ferguson in South Africa described the allegations as 'groundless'. Ferguson himself said in a statement: 'Any allegations of improper conduct, let alone sexual assault, on my part are untrue and entirely without foundation.' A 21 year-old woman claims Sir Alex touched her leg as they rode in a car from a jazz club in Cape Town. Ferguson was in South Africa to attend a horse race named in his honour and to take part in a charity event and a coaching session for underprivileged children.
Manchester United's projected tour of the USA in the summer of 2003 may include a money-making fixture against Japan in Seattle.
The Japanese press is getting excited over rumours Japan's new coach, Zico, may start his first match - a friendly against Jamaica on October 16 - with Japan's four foreign-based midfielders (Feyenoord's Shinji Ono, Fulham's Junichi Inamoto, Parma's Hidetoshi Nakata and Reggina's Shunsuke's Nakamura) in the starting line-up. The drooling hacks are comparing the quartet to the famous 1982 World Cup Brazilian midfield of Falcao, Socrates, Toninho Cerezo and Zico himself.
Urawa Reds leapfrogged to the top of the J.League Second Stage after thrashing Kyoto Purple Sanga 4-1 away while Jubilo Iwate lost 2-1 at home to JEF United Ichihara with both goals from South Korean World Cup striker Choi Yong Soo. Edmundo-inspired Tokyo Verdy 1969 are third.
Kyoto Purple Sanga's Korean World Cup midfielder Park Ji Sung may be on his way to join up with former national coach Guus Hiddink at PSV Eindhoven.
Earlier in the week Yokohama F Marinos sacked their Brazilian manager, Sebastiao
Lazaroni, who launched an attack on the board after his dismissal claiming
he had received 'no support'. Marinos placed second in the J.League First
Stage but are struggling in the Second Stage. Former Japan and Consadole
Sapporo coach Takeshi Okada is expected to replace caretaker Yoshiaki Shimojo
at the end of the season.
The 2006 World Cup to be held in Germany has already attracted nine major sponsors, according to FIFA marketing director Guido Tognoni.
The organizers are promising to lower ticket prices for the event after
criticism of the high prices for tickets at Korea/Japan 2002. Tickets are
expected to be available in two years time and the logo will be unveiled on November 9 this year.
Monochrome World Cup Images from the Far East
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Soccerphile Ltd - All Rights Reserved