18 JUNE 2002 JAPAN 0-1 TURKEY Umit 12 Umit headed in Ergun's corner. Japan's best effort in the entire match came from a free kick late in the first half. Alex bent the ball over the ball and saw it rebound off the crossbar. Troussier inexplicably substituted him at the start of the second half. Turkey didn't try in the second half. Japan were desperately poor. No favours from the referee this time. "It is the end of an adventure but we finished with a Japanese team which has a lot of spirit for the future. I hope they use that spirit as a launching pad as the team works towards the 2006 World Cup." - Philippe Troussier "Japan qualified as the Group H winner and they had the home-ground advantage but we wanted to win this game, we wanted to reach the quarter-finals. From the kick-off we controlled the pace of the game against a very strong Japanese side. We scored early and we tried to pass the ball. I think we did a very good job." - Senol Gunes Assist : Ergun (corner) SOUTH KOREA 2-1 ITALY Seol 88 Vieri 18 Ahn 117 Korea were awarded a penalty when idiot Panucci hauled down Seol. Buffon made a fantastic save to deny Perugia based forward Ahn. Vieri headed Italy the lead from a Totti corner, Vieri himself was getting his shirt pulled at the time, ironically by Seol. Tommasi played a fantastic one-two with Totti. Totti pulled down his pass, dragged the ball back and slipped it Tommasi but he shot straight at Lee. Coco needed stitches after eating an elbow from Tommasi when both players challenged for a cross. Vieri should have finished Korea off on a counter attack. Totti dribbled the ball from the half way line but hesitated when he got into the box giving the Koreans a chance to clear. A terrible mistake by Panucci gifted Korea a late equaliser. I'm not sure what he was trying to do but clearing the ball with your knee isn't a very good idea and Seol took full advantage with a shot into the corner. Vieri then missed an open goal a minute later, blazing over Tommasi's centre. Hwang's low free kick caught the Italian defence cold but Buffon made a phenomenal save to tip the ball around a post. Totti was given a second yellow card for diving in the box. It was a dive but the referee should have used some common sense given the fact that Totti had already been booked. Lee made a fantastic save from Gattuso after Seol lost possession in his box. Ahn rose above Maldini to head in Y P Lee's cross and send another of the favourites packing. One of THE great World Cup matches. The Italians are blaming the referee but they had Korea on the ropes in the first half and failed to press their advantage. "Three months ago, we started working very hard, and before that we had been working for a long time. Beginning in March we started working daily but one of the things I have to give credit to my players is that they keep on fighting and they also learned tactically a lot in the few weeks, which was incredible." - Guus Hiddink "We had three to four possibilities to score and it was regrettable that we only took the lead by one goal. If Gattuso and Vieri had scored at their given chances, we could have ended the game earlier. That's football, but if one of the teams should have advanced to the quarter-finals, it should have been Italy." - Giovanni Trapattoni Assists : Totti (corner), Y P Lee Red Card : Totti 103 minutes (Italy) 17 JUNE 2002 MEXICO 0-2 USA McBride 8 Donovan 65 Reyna ran the right flank from a quickly taken free kick but nothing seemed to be on after he centred into a packed penalty area however Wolf cleverly flicked the ball to the edge of the box and McBride smashed past Perez. Excellent goal. Blanco stung Friedel's palms with a decent long range effort but should have better from close range after Friedel flapped at a cross. Perez made an save from Wolf. Friedel tipped a Luna free kick onto the post. Mexico should have been awarded a penalty when Berhalter handled in the box. A superb counter attack put the USA out of reach. O'Brien released Lewis with an excellent into space and Donovan nodded his inch perfect cross past Perez. Stewart volleyed against a post. Marquez was sent off for a Cantona kick on Cobi Jones. Mercado also tried to take a chunk out of Jones but fortunately for him the ref didn't see it. I know Jones has got a shite hairstyle but that doesn't justify such rough treatment. A surprisingly lacklustre performance from the Mexican's. The USA played some good, inventive football and were worthy winners. "I don't know if we were lucky. We beat the group winner of the group with Italy. We beat one of the top five teams in the world. Then we came to get a point with Korea, the host country. We've had some impressive results in this World Cup. I wouldn't call that lucky, I think we have a good team. We will prove that we have one of the great teams in the world with Germany." - Bruce Arena "We had good possession of the ball for 90 minutes and moved at a quick pace but we didn't manage to get good results. We were trying to have control, grab possession of the ball. Then the referee would make a decision (missed handball) that made the game difficult." - Javier Aguirre Assists : Wolff, Lewis BRAZIL 2-0 BELGIUM Rivaldo 67 Ronaldo 87 The turning point of the match came late in the first half when Wilmots had a goal disallowed for absolutely nothing whatsoever. The Belgians came out fighting in the second half but couldn't find a way past an inspired Marcos. The Palmeiras 'keeper made excellent saves from Mpenza and Wilmots. Rivaldo juggled a cross from Jerry Curl on his chest, turned and volleyed past De Vlieger via a deflection off Simons. Mpenza snatched at a chance with team-mates waiting in the box. Ronaldo added a flattering second on the counter attack. Not for the first time in this World Cup Goor missed a sitter. More favourable refereeing bails out Brazil. They will need to play a lot better against England on Friday. "Not only the players were nervous but also the supporters, everyone working with the national team, but as I promised, what I have been saying all the time, this is a team that goes after the ball, that fights for the ball, fights for every minute of the game, and that's what we did and I am very happy with it." - Luiz Felipe Scolari "I have to say that the game could have ended with really a great surprise because the goal from Marc Wilmots in the first half was a legal one. It was a good game and the public can be happy with what they saw." Robert Waseige Assist : Klebersen 16 JUNE 2002 SWEDEN 1-2 SENEGAL Larsson 11 Camara 37, 104 Sylva made an excellent save with his feet from Mellberg after a cleverly worked free kick caught the Senegal defence off guard, Svensson should have put the rebound away. Svensson swung a corner in the box Sylva came off his line, got nowhere near the ball and Larsson headed into an empty net. Diouf headed on a free kick to Henry Camara, he bounced the ball off his chest, ran to Mjallaby's right and hit a low shot inside the post. Camara should have scored a second after Faye bulldozed his way down the left wing and sent a perfect cross into the box but Camara headed wide. Sweden blitzed the Senegal goal early in the second half, Allback and Svensson missing great chance to put their team back in front. Substitute Ibrahimovic ran onto a long ball, brushed aside Coly, sent a Senegal defender crashing on his backside with a great dummy but selfishly shot at goal with Larsson unmarked at the far post. Larsson flicked on a Mellberg cross, Coly's clearance fell at Svensson's feet, he took out Diatta with an outrageous Bergkamp style double dragback then crashed the ball against the outside of a post. Fantastic effort. Diouf shot over after taking out Mellberg and Linderoth with some outstanding dribbling around the box. Henry Camara latched onto a Bouba Diop back heel, cut inside Mjallaby and hit an early shot in off the post. Brilliant finish. Match of the tournament so far. Sweden were desperately unlucky not to win. Both teams played superb football. Diouf is an incredible raw talent. Full of selfless running and outstanding dribbling skills. His passing and crossing is great as well. What he needs to work on is his finishing and he also needs to cut out the diving. "It was a difficult start for Senegal with an early goal for Sweden. Sweden is a very strong team, who finished ahead of Argentina and England in the group. We were able to get the draw, and it must be hard for Sweden to lose in sudden death." - Bruno Metsu Assists : Svensson, Diouf, Bouba Diop SPAIN 1-1 IRELAND Morientes 8 Keane 90 (Pen) Ireland were caught out from a cleverly worked set piece. Puyol took a throw in and lobbed the ball to Luis Enrique, Enrique played it back, Puyol hit a first time cross into the box and Morientes headed into the net. Spain were the victims of some screwy offside decisions. Duff won a penalty mid way through the second half with a blatant dive. Ian Harte, who has had a terrible tournament, was denied from the spot by Casillas and Kilbane missed an open goal on the rebound. Camacho took off both Raul and Morientes. Ireland were awarded a second penalty in the finally minute when Hierro tried to remove Quinn from his shirt. Robbie Keane stepped up and made no mistake. Keane and Connolly went close in extra time. Penalty-Shoot Out Robbie Keane and Hierro converted. Holland smashed his penalty against the crossbar. Baraja converted. Connolly shot straight at Casillas. Juanfran shot wide. Donkey Kilbane predictably screwed up. Valeron shot wide. Finnan, one of Ireland's best players in this World Cup, set up a tense finish with an emphatic penalty but Mendieta held his nerve and calmly stroked the ball into the corner. Spain were deserved winners on the strength of their first half performance. Ireland were the superior team in extra time. Spain win 3-2 on penalties. "We suffered a lot, especially because we had two injured players. For almost the whole 30 minutes of the extra time, we played with only 10 players because our number 14 (Albelda) was out due to injury. We had a lot of opportunities to score in the game even earlier. It was a very balanced match." - Jose Antonio Camacho "A wonderful bunch of people, I suppose. I'm so proud to have had a chance to work with them. I've told them before, whatever happens there's no recriminations here. We've had a wonderful, wonderful World Cup but I think we deserved to go to the quarterfinals. I've nothing but admiration for those players, every one of them." - Mick McCarthy Assists : Puyol, Quinn (won penalty) 15 JUNE 2002 GERMANY 1-0 PARAGUAY Neuville 88 The only chance of an insipid first half fell to Paraguay. Kahn punched out a Slimfast (Chilavert) free kick, Cardozo played the ball back into the box and Ayala volleyed over. Campos latched onto a long ball and forced Kahn into a great save with a decent effort from the edge of the box. Schneider should have given Germany the lead early in the second half but he shot weakly at Slimfast from Neuville's centre. On the only occasion in which Klose got decent service, a cross from Ballack, he headed over the bar. Neuville stopped the pain with a wonderful first time volley at the near post from Schneider's centre. Coward Cesare Maldini then brought on Cuevas with minutes remaining. This was a dreadful match with Paraguay almost entirely to blame. It looked like they were playing for penalties, after 5 minutes. "In the first half, it was not really a football game. We were just shooting the ball all over, just like Paraguay did. We had a change at half time, we started to press Paraguay and it was a deserved victory after the attack and goal of Oliver Neuville." - Rudi Voeller "It was a very equally balanced game until the very end. There weren't really big possibilities for scoring on either side. The game was mostly played in the midfield but suddenly there was a beautiful run on the right side and a beautiful strike from the number seven from Germany." - Cesare Maldini Assist : Schneider DENMARK 0-3 ENGLAND Ferdinand 5 Owen 22 Heskey 45 Ferdinand headed a Beckham corner back across the box and Sorensen fumbled the ball into his net. Heskey chased down a hopeful ball from Sinclair, knocked down Laursen to win the ball but Sorensen was kick off his line and blocked Heskey as he shot. Owen scored from Butt's deflected pass. Sand missed a glorious chance to get the Danes back into the match. Gravesen stole the ball off Owen and played in Sand, Sand cut inside Campbell then Ferdinand but shot wide. Niclas Jensen headed Mills throw straight to Beckham, he rolled the ball across the edge of the box and Heskey drilled a low shot under Sorensen, great strike. England switched off in the second half. Mills was booked for a silly challenge on Henriksen. Beckham and Bogelund, on for the injured Helveg, went close with long range strikes. Denmark suffered from stage fright and a ruthless England side took full advantage. "I think we deserved to win but maybe not with that scoreline. In the second half, Denmark had the ball a lot but they did not create many chances. Well done to Denmark for not giving up, they pressed us and we had a lot of problems with them but 3-0 is a very difficult result to chase after halftime." Sven-Goran Eriksson "I think it was in only the second minute of the match on the corner they scored a goal. That made it difficult because England have a very good defence. Then a quarter of an hour they were 2-0 in front because of a mistake in our defence. I thought we reacted very well, we played some good football and had some chances. However, we didn't take our chances and then just before halftime we made a mistake and then the game was over." Morten Olsen Assists : Beckham (corner), Beckham |