Expert Football > World Football > World Cup > Korea & Japan 2002

Considered a disappointment by the hardcore fans, World Cup 2002 had many surprises and few entertaining games. The 32-team format designed by FIFA to popularize football deteriorated competition in the first stage of the tournament, producing games like China vs Costa Rica and Tunisia vs Japan. Meanwhile powerhouses like Holland and The Czech Republic were watching the tournament from home due to their grueling qualification fixtures.
Because of the East Asian climate, the entire World Cup was pulled back to late spring. This conflicted with European club leagues, which had to be crammed in order to finish on time. Most European (and South American) nations went to the World Cup with exhausted players who were still recovering from lengthy club seasons. This may have been the cause of the disappointing football displayed by many powerful nations like France, Portugal, and Argentina.

First Round

In the first match of World Cup 2002, returning champion France lost to outsider Senegal by 1-0. The success of the African squad caused both chaos and jubilation around the world. The Senegalese government issued a national holiday in respect to the victory. Senegal managed to earn two draws in their following group matches and qualified for the next round. Denmark showed a very ambitious attitude as they beat Uruguay, tied with Senegal and embarrassed France 2-0. The French struggled in all of their matches, dealing with the injury of their star midfielder Zidane. Unlike World Cup 1998, France were hurt by disputable and essentially crucial red cards.

Spain got the top results in this group by achieving three consecutive victories. Regardless of their good record, they did just as much as it needed to qualify. Slovenia put them to the test in their first game, with creative attacking combinations. The Spaniards were lucky when Slovenia was given a red card because the game looked even up to that point. In their following two matches, Spain clinched two unimpressive victories. Slovenia, which had a good run at the Euro 2000, finished with three losses that did not reflect their beautiful attacking style.

Group C finished with Brazil and Turkey sharing the top two spots. Brazil had a hard time against Turkey in the first group match. Considering that Brazil barely qualified for this World Cup, most experts agreed that they will probably not make it very far. Few admitted that Turkey is a formidable opponent who did quite well two years earlier at Euro 2000. Costa Rica nearly made the second round after finishing 1-1 against the Turks. China was just glad to be present at the World Cup and settled for three losses and no goals scored. Their presence at World Cup 2002 was entirely attributed to Serbian tactician Bora Milutinovic who earned them a spot at the tournament for the first time in the history.

The second considerable surprise at first stage of World Cup 2002 was Portugal's loss to the United States. The US came out with tenacity against the slower and unaware Portugal. Before the Europeans managed to enforce their game, the score was already 3-0 in favor of USA. Portugal tried to come back but time ran out and the match finished at 3-2. South Korea managed to earn two victories against Poland and Portugal thus qualifying for the next stage. Both of these came with physical play and promiscuous refereeing.

The most notable game in Group E was Germany's crushing victory over Saudi Arabia. The direct German attacks were too much for the Saudi defense. The Germans, especially Klose and Janker did whatever they wanted on the pitch for the final score of 8-0. Controversy sparked in the Irish squad as Manchester player Roy Keane quit just before the start of the tournament. Regardless, Ireland did well in the group stage, giving up only two goals. Cameroon showed creativity in their game but lacked a finishing touch, especially in the match against Germany. Oliver Kahn played a big part in their shutout.

In the so-called "Group of Death" Argentina was designated as the likely winner. Surprisingly, they lost to England and tied with Sweden thus failing to qualify for the next round. After storming through qualification with experienced players such as Batistuta, Ortega, and Zanetti, the Argentine national team showed little of what they were capable of. England's victory over Argeninta was viewed as revenge for the British and their controversial defeat at the last World Cup. Nigeria also under-performed considering their youthful and talented squad.

In Group G, Italy started off with a spectacular victory over Ecuador. The Italians could not replicate their opening match, losing to Croatia and drawing with Mexico. Croatia were much less consistent compared to their performance four years earlier even although their squad remained nearly the same.

Group H provided few thrills. In the final standings, Belgium did poorer than host nation Japan. As the Europeans drew with outsider Tunisia, they had to settle for second place in the group.

Second Round

Portugal along with Argentina and France were hyped as favorites before the tournament began but ironically were both eliminated in the first stage. At the second stage of World Cup 2002, another big surprise stunned the experts as Italy were defeated by host nation South Korea. The Koreans unexpectedly scored a Golden goal in overtime leaving Italy with no chance to respond. African sensation Senegal continued their run by defeating the consistent Sweden also with a Golden goal. Brazil and Germany both struggled to get over correspondingly Belgium and Paraguay. The Belgians with their methodical passing caused a lot of trouble for Brazil. Paraguay were also close to upsetting the Germans who barely clinched a goal late in the second half. German keeper Oliver Kahn proved volatile in Paraguay's shutout. The United States beat neighbor Mexico 2-0 in a somewhat controversial match. The Mexicans were supposedly deprived of a penalty after an American defender struck the ball with his hand. With unattractive but effective football, the US earned a quarterfinal spot. Spain managed to defeat the promising side of Ireland on penalties after a bland 1-1 draw. Balkan surprise Turkey eliminated host Japan who according to many were largely dependent on referee help. England was most impressive in this round, storming over Denmark 3-0.

Quarterfinals

At the quarterfinals of World Cup 2002, experience began to prevail and surprises were contained. USA's happy run was ended by powerhouse Germany. The former three- time champion scored a goal and laid back for the rest of the match. USA were simply not capable of coming back. Their desperate attacks caused some problems for Germany but did not impact the final score of 1-0. Brazil won over England 2-1. Ronaldhino scored the decisive goal from a free kick, capitalizing on a mistake by English keeper David Seaman. African sensation Senegal were sent home after a Golden goal in their match against Turkey. South Korea raised many eyebrows after defeating Spain at penalties. Spain were deprived by suspicious refereeing.

Semi-finals

At the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, Germany and Brazil finally put an end to the unexpected success of both Turkey and Korea. The Germans defeated host nation Korea in a physical match. Brazil did the same against creative side Turkey, who had played them previously in the tournament. The Turks lost, but outplayed in terms of flair Brazil who throughout the entire tournament played uncharacteristic for them closed football.

3rd Place

The third place match of the tournament has never been viewed with much seriousness, since both sides are automatically given bronze medals. Both South Korea and Turkey played offensively and the match ended with a total of five goals.

Final

Germany 0 Kahn Linke Ramelow Metzelder Frings Schneider Jeremies 77' Out Hamann Bode 84' Out Neuville Klose 73' Out Bierhoff 73' In Asamoah 77' In Ziege 84' In Baumann Sub Bohme Sub Butt Sub Jancker Sub Kehl Sub Lehmann Sub Rehmer Sub Ricken Sub

Brazil 2 Marcos Edmilson Lucio Roque Junior Cafu Kleberson Gilberto Carlos Ronaldinho 85' Out Rivaldo Ronaldo 90' Out Juninho Paulista 85' In Denilson 90' In Belleti Sub Ceni Sub Dida Sub Junior Sub Kaka Sub Luizao Sub Polga Sub Ricardinho Sub Vampeta Sub

The final of Korea & Japan 2002 featured two sides which were originally viewed as unlikely contenders. Both Germany and Brazil recorded relatively poor qualifying stats. Two years earlier, the Germans were humiliated at the European championship. Their styles of football were very contrasting too. The match started off with Germany in charge. The Europeans came out with enthusiasm but could not keep their high. In the middle of the first half, Brazil began to enforce their possession game. In the second half, Ronaldo opened the score by finishing a mishandled ball by Oliver Kahn. The German keeper's first and last blunder of the tournament proved crucial. At that point, Germany had no choice but to attack. That left more space for Brazil up front and they capitalized again. Rivaldo, whose shot Kahn had previously mishandled, was again instrumental. His dummy run caught the German defense unprepared and left the ball at Ronaldo's feet. Rona, who was sporting a new and unusual haircut, netted a second goal for the final 2-0. Germany tried countering but could not produce a goal. One of Germany's main offensive players, Ballack, missed the match due to suspension. Referee Pierluigi Collina conducted an outstanding final, but as usual did not attract any attention except for his hairstyle and intense glare.