The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Former England legend Paul Gascoigne has struggled to make an impression as he seeks a new start to his career in China. The 35-year-old Gazza is on the southern Chinese island of Hainan undergoing trials with Chinese club Liaoning Bodao. Local Chinese media labeled the former Spurs and Lazio star's performance in a practice match as 'weak and clumsy'. Prospective teammates questioned his fitness and one, Luo Tongliang - who had obviously never heard of Gazza's reputation for practical jokes - said: 'I don't know what's wrong with him. There seems a mismatch between his reputation and his actual performance.' Team manager Ma Lin was equally gloomy: 'He has long been described as a bad-tempered drinker. If so, it will be a difficult situation for us all'.
Surprise, surprise. Premiership footballers enjoy a good gamble, it seems. News broke this week that Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen had lost over US$643,500 in five months at the casino on roulette and blackjack. Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy also reportedly revealed in an interview with a Dutch magazine that the team's stars gambled their 'obscene' and 'astronomical' wages on the team coach to away matches, though the club were quick to deny that the Dutch striker had made these statements. Liverpool's star striker Michael Owen is also reportedly said to have signed a US$50,000 cheque to cover gambling losses after last summer's World Cup. The England squad's card school was said to comprise Owen, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Bridge, David James and Kieron Dyer, with Dyer the main beneficiary of last summer's high stakes. Maybe the player's could take a leaf out of Japan forward Naohiro Takahara's book and donate some of their 'obscene' earnings to charity.
American forward Brian McBride has been in terrific form in his first two
games for Everton since arriving on a three-month loan from Columbus Crew.
McBride, 30, opened his account on his debut in the Merseyside club's 4-3
loss to Spurs and scored both goals in his side's 2-1 win over Sunderland.
Carlos Bocanegra, Chris Klein, Steve Ralston and Clint Mathis were the scorers
as the USA routed Canada 4-0 in a friendly in Fort Lauderbale, Florida.
Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel was voted the U.S. Soccer Federation's
male athlete of the year before the USA v Canada game. Friedel, 31, equalled a World Cup record last year by saving two penalty kicks in the USA's first
round games in South Korea.
D.C. United's Bobby Convey, 19, was voted the young male athlete of the
year.
FIFA has dropped its investigation into controversial Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno, whose handling of the Italy v South Korea game at last year's World Cup was met with a storm of protest in Italy, including a plethora of satirical websites attacking the most-hated man in Italian football.
FIFA announced they 'were closing the book' on the official due to a lack
of proof. Moreno has subsequently retired from the game after receiving
a 20-match ban for irregularities in a domestic game in Ecuador between
Liga de Quito and Barcelona of Guayaquil.
In that match Moreno allowed 13 minutes of time added on after previously signalling only six during which time home side Quito scored twice to win 4-3.
He also gave two disputed penalties, sent off two players and also awarded a goal and then later disallowed it. Moreno was standing for civic office at the time in Quito.
President of the Brazilian Football Federation, Ricardo Teixeira, will present a plan for a World Cup expanded to 40 teams and with the holder's automatic right to qualification reinstated to a FIFA meeting in Qatar in October. A FIFA spokesman responded that football's world governing body will discuss the proposals.
Cameroon international Patrick Mboma has agreed to terms with J.League club
Tokyo Verdy in a contract that will pay him an undisclosed amount rumored
to be considerably less than the 200 million yen ($1.7 million) demanded
by his predecessor, Edmundo. With Edmundo gone to play for the Urawa Reds
next year, Verdy had a gaping hole to fill in its offense. They have decided
to fill it with the considerable muscle and charm of former Gamba Osaka
star Mboma.
The 'Black Panther' thrilled Japanese crowds in the 1997 season
with his flamboyant and physical playing style and as the leading scorer.
Off the field, too, Mboma was a big hit among fans. Whether he can fill Edmundo's shoes is another story.
Verdy's general manager Tadashi Karai admitted as much: 'Edmundo's high salary was one aspect. But we also relied on him too much on the
attacking side. Edmundo did everything'playing in midfield, scoring,
everything in attack.'
Verdy is hoping that with Mboma'who has struggled in Europe at the club
level in the last two years'the team will offer a more balanced attack,
which will help younger Japanese players develop. And save the organization a few yen.
On a request from FIFA, Japan has agreed to host the under-20 championship if it cannot be played in the United Arab Emirates as scheduled. Because of the possibility of war in nearby Iraq, FIFA has asked Japan to stand
in as a possible replacement for the March 25th-April 16th competition.
Japan Football Association general secretary Takeo Hirata announced that
Japan would accept the request. At the same time, though, Hirata and the
JFA appear to be hoping that the tournament will go as planned in the
UAE. With the Xerox Cup on March 1st and the 2003 J.League season opener
kicking off on March 21st, it would be an enormous logistical strain for Japan to have to play host.
Kyoto Purple Sanga, winner of the recent Emperor's Cup in Japan,
lost out on a hefty transfer fee because team representatives apparently
did not understand FIFA's new transfer system. Korea international
Park J-Sung transferred from Sanga to PSV Eindhoven in early January,
with the Dutch club not paying a transfer fee. Sanga did not collect because
it did not understand the complex new regulations regarding transfers.
The revised code, which came into effect a year in the fall of 2001, states
that clubs are 'entitled to 'training compensation'
when players under the age of 23 move between teams in different countries.'
Sanga, which offered Park a two-year contract valued at more than a million
dollars a year to entice him to stay in Kyoto, should have collected a fee when the twenty-one year-old signed with his new club.
With the contract already signed and Park in Holland, it is still unclear
whether Sanga can claim any training compensation.
Former Japan international Tatsuhiko Kubo will be moving from recently
relegated Sanfrecce Hiroshima to the Yokohama Marinos. The twenty-six
year-old has scored 67 goals in 187 J.League matches.
Relegated Hiroshima Sanfrecce lost another player when 25-year-old midfielder Chikara Fujimoto moved to Nagoya Grampus Eight.
Former national team defender Go Oiwa became the first player to be transferred
between Japan's top two clubs when the 30-year-old center-back left Jubilo
Iwate to join Kashima Antlers this week.
Shigeyoshi Mochizuki is on the move again, after joining Vissel Kobe from Kyoto Purple Sanga, the midfielder is set to join JEF Ichihara.
Brazilian defender Augusto did not have to wait long to find a new club
after being released by Kashima Antlers, signing a one-year deal with J2
Kawasaki Frontale.
25-year-old midfielder Toshiya Ishii has left Urawa Reds for Vengalta Sendai.
Hamburg HS has shifted into full gear in order to market its Euro-magnet,
aka, Japanese forward Naohiro Takahara. The club's official web site is already available in both German and English; a Japanese site
is now in the planning stages. At the club's February 2nd Bundesliga
home opener against Bremen, the match program will feature'you guessed
it'Takahara on the cover. For those fans whose German is tad bit
on the rusty side, no worries: there will be two-page Japanese supplement.
The team will continue this 'Japanese Corner' supplement for
every home match program. Last but hardly least, Hamburg has ordered 10,000
replica uniforms with Takahara's name and number on them. This dwarfs the number for any other player.
All of the above largesse, of course, is contingent upon the former J.League
star's performance on the pitch. About which the club is being cautious:
'We are hoping for the best,' said one official. Still, the
SOUTH KOREA - Reigning champions Songnam Chunma have signed striker Kim Do-hoon from Chonbuk Motors for US$540,000. Kim Do-hoon has netted 63 goals in 153 K.League games and has 60 caps with 22 goals for the national team.
The Korean World Cup Organizing Committee (KOWOC) is proposing to build
a large-scale, US$87.5 million commemorative complex near Seoul World
Cup Stadium with some of the US$141 million profit it made from the 2002 World Cup. The plan calls for the construction of a World Cup exhibition
hall and a soccer museum near Seoul World Cup Stadium. Opponents of the
scheme have countered that the money would be better spent as direct investment
in the grass-roots level of the Korean game.
West Ham United's signing of Lee Bowyer has meant that Kim Nam-il's trial
with the club has come to an end and the East London side have released the 26-year-old midfielder who plays for K-League team Chunnam Dragons.
Glenn Roeder, West Ham's manager said on the club's website: "I have spoken
to him today, after he has been with us eight or nine days, but now we have signed Lee Bowyer we are quite comfortable in the midfield positions
- so we are going to allow him to move on." "He played in the World Cup
for South Korea last summer, and he is a very good player who I don't
think will have any trouble getting fixed up somewhere in Europe".
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
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