0
ULSAN (South Korea), June 9: Spanish captain Fernando Hierro has been as surprised as anyone to see favourites like France and Argentina struggling in first round matches at the tournament but has backed them to win through to the last 16.
“It was difficult to imagine before the tournament that we’d see such teams struggling,” Hierro said when asked about the plight of France and Argentina.
Argentina are in trouble after losing their second match to England, while among the other pre-tournament favourites Portugal suffered a shock defeat to the United States in their first game and Italy have work to do after losing to Croatia.
“These teams aren’t out yet,” Hierro warned. “We’re talking about teams who have a lot of experience playing semi-finals and finals and I expect most of them to get through.
“You can see that football is evening up, though. All the teams here can make life difficult for any opponents.”
France, the World Cup holders, have just a point from their opening two group A games and will need to beat Denmark by two clear goals in their final match to be sure of going through.
Spain won their first two matches against Slovenia and Paraguay in group B to progress without a hitch, Hierro scoring in both matches.
MIYAZAKI (Japan): Germany players Marco Bode and Thomas Linke both said Sunday that they would retire from the international game after the tournament.
The 32-year-old Bode, who was a member of Germany’s Euro 1996-winning squad, said he might retire from all football while Linke plans to keep playing for his Bayern Munich side.
Defender Linke, also 32, said there was a “99 percent chance” he would stop playing.
Another player in Germany’s squad, former captain Oliver Bierhoff, had said before the tournament that he would probably retire from international football after the finals.—Reuters
