World Cup Watch
2002

The Record

Straight ascending list of matches (forthcoming first with Pacific Time kickoff, followed by completed with scores).

TV coverage in San Francisco was on Univision affiliate KDTV-14, Telefutura UHF channel KPST-66 and ESPN2.

Bracket on FIFA's World Cup site
Group Tables
You can also check out the FIFA World Cup site for lots more information.

Reports:

Sunday, June 30: Return, I will, to old Brazil
Saturday, June 29: All for the show
Wednesday, June 26: Sleeper
Tuesday, June 25: Germany too tall for Korea
Saturday, June 22: The other underdog
Saturday, June 22: O.K., bring on the next European power
Friday, June 21: You don't get points for trying
Friday, June 21: No future -- this time -- for England
Tuesday, June 18: Korea flies
Tuesday, June 18: Japan falls
Monday, June 17: Ready for a classic match-up?
Monday, June 17: Estados Unidos? -- Si!
Sunday, June 16: Extra time extravaganza
Saturday, June 15: Roll Englandia
Saturday, June 15: Alemania
Friday, June 14: Korea wins, drags sorry US with them
Friday, June 14: Japan wins group
Thursday, June 13: Correction
Thursday, June 13: Brazil, Turkey; Mexico, Italy
Wednesday, June 12: That's why they play the games -- and at the same time
Wednesday, June 12: Argentina out
Tuesday, June 11: Everyone else is lucky
Monday, June 10: U.S. escapes again, but not with a win
Sunday, June 9: Japan makes good; Moscow riot; best match
Saturday, June 8: Absenteeism
Friday, June 7: England 1, Argentina 0
Thursday, June 6: Referees
Thursday, June 6: Underdogs -- France
Wednesday, June 5: US soccer shocker!!
Wednesday, June 5: U.S. starts with biggest bang, whimpers to victory
Wednesday, June 5: U.S. starts with biggest bang yet
Tuesday, June 4: But then there's Korea
Tuesday, June 4: Little reward for great play
Monday, June 3: england vs. sweden

The Grade

Best Pursuit:

Sweden, South Korea, Turkey, Italy

It was apparent from their opening match with England that Sweden was a force to reckon with. The way the entire team moved to the ball when defending made it very difficult for the English side, and helped eliminate one of the tournament favorites, Argentina. South Korea also showed in their first match against Poland amazing team speed, and dominated possession against the larger players, moving the ball around very well also. Their movement defensively made their matches as exciting as their lively possession play did, even though their disruption of the attack was reciprocated by able opponents, such as Italy. In their first match, the Italians were still showing the fierce defensive control they had in previous campaigns, cutting down and through Ecuador. But they didn't look so dominant against Croatia. With South Korea, however, they took this type of game to thrilling heights (and lows, see the account via "Best Match" below). Turkey's team speed was as much on attack, but it became all too evident in the knock-out stage that they were difficult to get around.

Best Control (of possession):

France, Ireland

The fact that the defending Cup champions and tournament favorite did not score a single goal, finished last in their group and were sent out at the group stage is even more astonishing because of the way they utterly dominated possession in all three matches. Even with one man down against Uruguay, France still completely ran play, and the Uruguayan coach paid tribute to the fact after the 0-0 draw. Against Denmark in the final 2-0 loss, with Zinedine Zidane back in the line-up, it appeared that France was cursed: they dominated possession again, but chance after chance on goal just missed, including three shots in the second half alone that hit the bar. Even the deadly accurate long-range striker, Zidane, had a shot on the post and a near miss at the top corner. But the goal of the game is the goal, and France did not make it. Ireland has a combination of quickness and coordination that also, curiously like France, seems strangely impotent, but keeps them in every match and makes them tough to beat, as Germany learned.

Best Set-Up (passing, through-passing, crossing, centering, corners):

England, Germany

England's game is almost entirely set-up, the vertical game and the accurate set-up kicking of David Beckham, although they showed some lively runs by new faces as well as Michael Owen. Germany gets high marks here primarily on their goal orgy against Saudi Arabia, but they showed the same great form on at least the goal against Ireland. A special, curious honorable mention goes to Poland, Portugal and the U.S., who in their round-robin blowouts of each other, showed some great assists, but then flopped at it when they were on the receiving end of the blowout.

Best Running Attack (possession runs by individual players):

Brazil

As might have been expected two years ago, before the dubious qualifying campaign that followed their breakdown after '98, and the personal breakdown of Ronaldo. Brazil was on the verge of not qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in history, and Ronaldo was not even on the team, still trying to make his comeback from injury in the Italian league. Brazil entered the tournament under a cloud of doubt, supposedly a shadow of its former self like it's one-time star, Ronaldo. But Ronaldo showed in the first match against Turkey that, even if he's half what he was, he's still too dangerous. Brazil got better with each match, a scary prospect after their 5-goal performance against Costa Rica, as if the three group matches in quick succession gave them the timing and coordination they lacked in qualifying games months apart. And Ronaldo is not the only one on the team who can take the ball to the goal by himself: Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, even defenders like Cafu and newcomers like -- ahem -- Kaka. So they managed to surprise us that they are once again, not surprisingly, astonishingly gifted players.

Best Back Line (defenders):

France, England, Germany

France's Lilian Thuram may be the best player in a defensive position on the planet, and then they have Marcel Desailly. Every other defender on the France squad is solid, disciplined, precise. England may be something of a surprise, here, to judge by the exasperation of their fans over goals allowed in previous campaigns (like Portugal's 3-2 win in Europe 2000). But not only did England give up one goal in four matches before Brazil, they've had inspired defensive play and play from their defenders. Sol Campbell is expected to be the anchor when he's in top form, and he was, even scoring England's opening goal against Sweden. But Rio Ferdinand at the other center back has become one of the best defenders in the world and showed why. Relative newcomer Danny Mills was one of the most energetic of the squad, and pursued better than anyone. With Ashley Cole on the other side, he's given England a great transition game on both flanks. Germany has allowed only one goal against them until the final against Brazil. Relative newcomer Christoph Metzelder teamed with veterans Thomas Linke and Christian Ziege in aggressive -- sometimes too aggressive -- ounterplay.

Best Goalkeeping:

Turkey, Germany, U.S.A., Spain, England, Mexico

This one is hard to call. Turkey's Rustu Recber made the best early impression with outstanding play against Brazil. Then he stood out through the knock-out stage, shutting out Japan and Senegal, and even in the second loss to Brazil. But he was most spectacular in the third-place match against Korea, despite giving up two goals. England's David Seaman, also a target of fans' frustration in the past, didn't need to make many spectacular saves, but he showed superb judgment and timing, particularly in the Argentina win. With all the talk of Beckham, it was a big redemption for Seaman. Germany's Oliver Kahn also benefitted from his great back line, but he showed top form, and command of other aspects of competition, such as diffusing conflicts between players, his teammates and opponents (although he had one not so diplomatic incident himself against Cameroon). Mexico's Oscar Perez makes the list for his performance against Italy alone, but he was also great in his other matches. Brad Friedel held up the U.S. in their wilting second-half play, notably against Portugal. The 3 goals the U.S. allowed Poland had more to do with the bad defense besides Friedel, and Friedel made great saves that would have been more goals. Then there was his play against Mexico, even more spectacular saves and a clean sheet to show for it. Friedel had two penalty kick saves! Spain's Iker Casillas was just doing routine solid work until the match with Ireland. Then he was fantastic and instrumental in the win. Besides some great saves against shots from play, he saved a penalty kick, then in the penalty shootout, knocked away two!

Best Attack:

Brazil, Senegal, Spain, Germany, U.S.A.

This is the sum of above categories, possession, set-up, running, but it's also something more. Brazil is obvious for reasons already stated, but their coordination makes them more than just good dribblers. Senegal showed some of the most creative offense, a notable model for all the elements being their goal against Denmark, where they moved the length of the field on counterattack with running passes and finished with Salif Diao turning the last pass to the goal with the outside of his foot. Spain is hard to deny, scoring 3 goals a match in the group stage, and they were persistent at the opponent's end. This gave them chances, such as free kicks and corners, to make up for some inconsistency in finishing. Germany, as mentioned before, gets credit for 8 goals against Saudi Arabia, something which became more impressive after Saudi Arabia allowed Cameroon only one goal. The U.S.A. offers a good example of that "something" more, an intangible. On paper, the U.S. didn't seem a great scoring threat, especially in the first match when the man who'd been their best goal creator, Clint Mathis, was out. But the U.S., even with luck, showed a remarkable nose for the goal. Their 3 goals against Portugal gets them honors, but they backed that up with one of the niftiest goals in the tournament against Korea, and two more dramatic shots against Mexico.

Best Match:

Costa Rica v. Turkey

Perhaps you have to be deprived, or depraved, to want to watch every match of the World Cup, but how else would you discover a gem in what was not some marquis match like Argentina v. England? For an account, see the report of Sunday, June 9, if you haven't above. Honorable mention goes to Belgium v. Japan, Cameroon v. Ireland for the second half, and South Africa v. Spain for the first half.

Italy v. Korea Rep.

The flow was not quite as great as the match above, but the pace was as amazing. It was also an aggressive match, and it would have a spectacular finish, right before full time and then again in extra time. For Korea and non-partisans, it was rousing as a comeuppance as well as a comeback. See the account of  Tuesday, June 18.

Korea Rep. v. Turkey (third-place match)

Korea used their co-host Cup to come onto the world stage as a competitor and one of the most exciting ones at that. Turkey had already shown how exciting they could be, so perhaps we should've seen ahead of time that this one would be a doozy. It was in a way nobody expected. See the account of  Saturday, June 29.

Best Goal:

There has not been one spectacular goal above all the rest, nor one of grand significance, like some of the great ones in World Cup history (see FIFA's Goal of the Century poll for run-down). But here are the ones that are all close in the combination of spectacle and significance.

Ji Sung Park, Korea Rep., v. Portugal, 70'
This one is tops by a nose, particularly for the combination of how great it was to watch and what it did. Park did a ball juggling act to one side of the goal, bringing it down with his chest in front of a Portugese defender, flipping it aside with one foot, then swinging the other foot around to slice it under the diving keeper, Vitor Baia. It had a narrow passage, too, between Baia and the post, which added to the suspense. It was the only goal of the match and it sent not only Korea, but the United States, into the second round. Despite Clint Mathis's goal against Korea (see below), the U.S. players may consider this the most important goal for them.

Papa Bouba Diop, Senegal, v. France, 30'
The goal that gave newcomer Senegal the victory over defending world champion France, and tolled the bell for France's nightmare group stage. This was against the run of play, France dominating possession as expected, though failing to score. It was a chancy goal, but there was no less skill and beauty in Senegal's execution. Forward El Hadji Diouf was running out of room against the back line, and seemed to have hardly gotten around French defender Frank Leboeuf when he suddenly scooted the ball past the post in front of goal. France's Emmanuel Petit and keeper Fabien Barthez played bumpers to the pinball, and it rolled off in front of an open goal. Diop came in on the ball as Petit chased it, and behind Petit and with Barthez down and sprawling for the ball, Diop looked like part of the confusion as he dropped down. But it was a cool slide to the ball, to get under Petit, and he rounded off the motion by scooping the ball with his foot into the net.

Henri Camara, Senegal, v. Sweden, round of 16, 104', "golden goal"
The first "golden goal" of the 2002 edition and the second in World Cup history (after France's against Parguay in '98), in the round of 16, took amazing newcomer Senegal one step further, past another European power, to the quarterfinals. And it wasn't just the sudden death blow, but as much shrewdness as showboat, with an assist as stunning as the goal kick. Pape Thiaw met a Swedish defender at the corner of the box and turned outside, running away from the box. But as the defender followed, Thiaw stepped over the ball and rolled it backwards, crossing it perfectly to Camara. From the top of the box, Camara turned. He had an opening, and only the goalkeeper to beat. He shot it along the ground, and the angle beat the charging Swedish keeper Magnus Hedman to just inside the far post.

Ronaldinho, Brazil, v. England, quarterfinals, 50'
The most spectacular long strike of the tournament was the winning goal against England in the quarterfinals. From 25 yards out, Ronaldinho's kick arched up, then curled and dropped viciously over the leaping keeper, David Seaman, right inside the far upper corner of the goal. It was a stunner that broke the 1-1 first-half tie just 5 minutes into the second half.

Ilhan Mansiz, Turkey, v. Korea Rep., third-place match, 13'

Hakan Sukur's goal in 10 seconds of this match is a historic World Cup goal , but because it was the third-place match, it doesn't have quite the drama. Besides that, this second goal at 13' was a more sensational play even for Hakan Sukur, and the best two-forward break in the tournament. Sukur and Mansiz played cat and mouse with Korean defenders, Mansiz to Sukur into the box, Sukur going off balance to send the ball sideways back to Mansiz, then Mansiz kicking it underneath a leaping defender for the goal. The Koreans, despite not having the numbers, actually marked well, but Sukur's side kick and Mansiz's chip under were just right to beat them.

Robbie Keane, Ireland, v. Germany, 92'
This was really a last-minute goal, snatching a win from Germany. Though it was only a draw for Ireland, it gave them a secure position in second that could not be overcome unless they lost to Saudi Arabia. It was also the best demonstration in the tournament of Yogi Berra's truism in baseball: it ain't over till it's over. And in soccer, there's injury time. Ireland ran play and all around Germany in the second half, but were turned away again and again. With the added minutes expiring, even Niall Quinn's pass into the box looked futile. But suddenly there was Keane charging, and he charged it right through to the goal.

Clint Mathis, U.S.A., v. Korea Republic, 24'
While there have been plenty of good long passes with great finishes, by Ronaldo among others, this one by Mathis had some extra flourish. The goal put the U.S. up 1-0 on Korea in their showdown, after both teams had served notice with dramatic wins over European sides. The goal would hold up for a draw with South Korea, keeping the U.S. in position to advance, even while losing to Poland, when Korea beat Portugal. Spectacular enough was the pass, from midfield by John O'Brien right in front of Mathis aiming for the goal. With a defender rushing to him, Mathis cooly brought the ball down with his right foot and switched to his left to slash it away from the keeper through the side of the goal.

Jared Borgetti, Mexico, v. Italy, 34'
This was not only Mexico delivering the first blow against Italy, and what Italy would have to fight the rest of the match to answer, getting only the draw, it's the most beautiful header of the tournament so far. Mexico's Cuauhtemoc Blanco found Borgetti streaking into the box with one defender on him, and lobbed the ball towards the goal. Borgetti and the defender went up together, and in one graceful flow, Borgetti spun as his head met the ball, glancing it to finish a sweeping arc to the far corner of the net. The whole trajectory of the ball was so far beyond Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon, he didn't have a play and watched it sail over.

Junichi Inamoto, Japan, v. Belgium, 67'
Inamoto's bit of derring-do, racing down the left side to the box, then as defenders closed on him, pausing to set before he beat the goalkeeper with the kick into the far corner of the net, was also the goal that gave Japan their first lead ever in a World Cup match. Belgium would answer, and a late goal by Japan was overruled, but the draw was still proof that Japan was more than a group also-ran.

Marc Wilmots, Belgium, v. Japan, 57'
Gotta have a bicycle kick on the list. This one was in the same match as Inamoto's, above. It was a bit rough, oblique, not a full heel-over-head beauty, but still exciting, and effective.

Best Flouting of Two Sports -- Diving:

Italy, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico

Uruguay put up a serious challenge to Argentina as the premier divers of the world, especially in the match against France where, topping several other dives, Dario Silva turned an actual tackle of him into what must be one of the longest-running dramas in Cup history. Silva remained on the ground so that play was stopped, France putting the ball out in the sporting custom, and the referee called for the stretcher. While this was going on, a replay showed that where Silva was struck was not the part of his leg he was clasping in his show of pain. He was taken off the far side of the field as play resumed. He got up after a bit, then limped along the side. He came back on the pitch, and limped around there some more. Suddenly, he was flying around again and soon made a flying, flagrant tackle. But then there was Rivaldo, who single-handedly put Brazil among the leaders, with his well-documented fake. Although a Turkish player did kick the ball at him as he waited to make a corner kick, and hit him in the leg, Rivaldo jerked his hands to his face, with a Janus-like grimace, fell down and continued to clutch his face for some time. The act brought a red card from the referee for the Turkish player. But following the match, video record was used by FIFA to fine Rivaldo. Then along came Italy, proud, noble, mighty Italy. If "all the best players do it," as one fan was overheard to say of flopping, then Italy is indeed among the best. Two Italians were given yellow cards for diving in the match against Mexico, as FIFA had instructed its officials to do before this World Cup. Then Francesco Totti enhanced incidental contact in the box and was ejected in the "golden goal" extra time against Korea because it was his second caution of the match. Mexico's Luis Hernandez inadvertently turned the high drama to comedy when he waited till the player was away from him before he lunged in the box. The foot of God? The yellow card went to Hernandez. Argentina kept up their tradition of overacting in this World Cup, but with no single performance so grand as these others. Failing at their World Cup bid, Argentina also faces the prospect that they're not even the best in the world at diving.

Best Celebration

Senegal, Nigeria, Korea

Although plenty of spectators may appreciate the fad for reasons not exactly relating to the game, it's never been clear why the players themselves started this business of pulling off their jersies in exuberance after a goal. What happened to tearing out your hair? There was plenty of soccer stripping in this World Cup, but there were much more inventive celebrations. Senegal started it all off with a bang following their equally spectacular opening goal against World Cup holders, France. And it was creative variation on the shirt removal. Senegalese scorer Papa Bouba Diop took off his jersey (though he was wearing another shirt underneath) and the whole team moved to the area outside the corner of the field. Diop laid the jersey out on the ground, ceremoniously, and the team did a dance around it. Nigeria's Julius Aghahowa presented a celebration that rivalled anything in the game as an athletic feat. Starting at one side of the goal, he turned handsprings all the way to the corner, finishing off with a full flip. Korea's Jung Hwan Ahn brought politics to his celebration -- well, sports politics at any rate. He did pantomime of speed skating to signal his goal as vengeance for the disqualification of a Korean speed skater at the U.S. Olympics.

Best Jersey

Uruguay

For those of you who don't know, soccer, or football as it is known everywhere outside the U.S., is a refined sport, and it is not even a compromise of machismo, gentlemanly though it is, that interest is as much in fashion as sport. From the lowliest knuckleheads to the haute-iest of French and Italian designers, the aesthetic of the football jersey is inseparable from the passion of the sport, especially as it is the very sign of that passion. In this regard, the 2002 World Cup was scandalous. The new jerseys that appeared on the players in this tournament were branded more obnoxiously than ever. The big manufacturers of athletic wear have already imposed their logos everywhere (this even though sponsor ads are forbidden on uniforms in the World Cup), but here they were stamping themselves even more with generic designs. Nike and Adidas, and to a lesser extent Puma, came out with their lines, each maker having a basic jersey design varying from team to team primarily only in color. While there was some tailoring, for example with Croatia's famous checkerboard pattern, the basic design was imposed on all. Adidas had the most tolerable design, but also the less varied: a solid color with triple bar on the shoulders. Puma added a sort of upside-down teardrop shape on the sides to the curved, raised seams made popular by the Italian jersey earlier. The worst was Nike, with its goofy angle design on the sides, meeting an off-color piping that goes around the back. While Nike allowed the most variation in this, the side angles looked all the more imposed when on, again the example, the Croatia checkerboard. By far the worst jersey of all was the United States version of the Nike: it looks like some bad tennis shirt from the '80s. Korea's jersey, another version of the Nike, came in second worst with a goofy curve graph design that adds op art starch to the wacky side angles.
It would have been easy enough to stand out against this, but the Uruguay jersey was also a beauty for reasons of its own. While the throwback attempts of Adidas and Nike looked like the '70s and '80s, the Uruguay jersey echoed an earlier era with one of the most distinguished elements ever: the drawstring collar. Just a formal dash of the true drawstring, for design rather than utility, was added to a striped collar and sleeve trim, with the recent trend of the raw seams and the modern material, in Uruguay's sky blue (which is in the great combination of black on the shorts and socks in their uniform, a combo the Argentines with their famous "albiceleste" parted from in their recent edition).
Nigeria deserves mention for the startling shade of green they presented on their 2002 edition, if for only the sensation.