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| June 24, 2002 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1423 |
Semis line-up defies opinion, odds, belief
SEOUL, June 23: Surely not even FIFA’s World Cup computer game could have produced the semi-final line-up that has emerged at the real thing as the last four defied expert opinion, betting odds and, in South Korea’s case, belief, to get through.
The South Koreans, previously without a win in 14 games over five tournaments, have somehow beaten Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain to carry the flag for the co-hosts after Japan were knocked out in the second round at the hands of Turkey.
Asia’s first semifinalists are now on the verge of the most incredible story in the history of a tournament first organised by soccer’s world governing body in 1930 in Uruguay.
Turkey, in only their second World Cup and their first since 1954, recovered from a start that would have floored many teams but have continued to play eye-catching football and are in the last four on merit.
Germany are the most consistent team in World Cup history and have again proved themselves the ultimate tournament competitors despite the current group of players being written off as the worst to represent the country in years.
It seems ridiculous to describe Brazil’s appearance as a surprise but, following an appalling qualifying campaign, they too arrived outside the select group of favourites.
But with each game they have eased back to the top of the pile and now once again find themselves in the familiar role as the bookmakers’ choice to win the title for the fifth time.
The surprise semifinal line-up follows the trend of recent World Cups, which saw Croatia make the last four on their debut in 1998 and both Sweden and Bulgaria four years earlier.
In 1994 seven of the eight quarterfinalists were from Europe, in 1998 it was six and this time only four.
In the last two tournaments the underdogs finally fell at the penultimate hurdle and the odds again point to Brazil and Germany emerging to do battle in the final in Yokohama on June 30.
Incredibly, despite both featuring in the latter stages of virtually every World Cup, the two countries have never met at any of the previous tournaments.
Unheard of defeats to the likes of Australia, Honduras and South Korea in friendlies, and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s apparent confusion over his first-choice team, left Brazil trailing Argentina, France, Italy and even Spain with most bookmakers.
But they are in the semifinals again and, though they have not yet scaled the heights of some previous teams in the gold and green, they have shown admirable fighting spirit, particularly with 10 men in the quarterfinal comeback win over England.
Once again, the Brazilians and their samba skills bring an undeniable pedigree to a wonderfully refreshing last four.—Reuters
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