FOR what it was worth, the recent Confederation Cup in Japan and South Korea seemed to confirm that France are well favoured to retain the title they won on their own soil in 1998. With Argentina the most likely challengers.
If France hadn't won that tournament, with the dazzling array of stars they deployed, it would have been a humiliation. Even so they made heavy weather in the Yokahama Final of beating 1-0 a Japanese team without its chief motivator and most refulgent star, Hidetoshi Nakata. In passing, the case of Nakata was a passing strange one. As you may know, he was torn between the demands of club and country. Roma had an important match in Naples that Sunday, winning which (though they didn't) would have given them the scudetto.
On the face of it, Japan had a cast iron case for keeping Nakata. Whatever we may think of the Confederation Cup, it surely ranks as an official competition, which means that country takes precedence over club. In the event, however, Nakata, who may even leave Roma this summer perhaps for Arsenal, flew back to Italy, went down to Naples; and never got off the bench. My Italian sources tell me that after so long a journey it was not on the cards that he would be used at all; that Nakata himself wanted merely to join in the celebrations! So much for the old Samurai philosophy!
France went to the tournament without such salient figures as Zinedine Zidane, David Trezeguet, Fabien Barthez and Emmanuel Petit, not to mention the electric Thierry Henry, They lost their second game, against Australia, but only because they decided that day to make 11 changes in their team. In the course of the tournament the slender little Eric Carriere of Nantes, another of those players constantly rejected when very young, yet able to fight his way through to huge success, emerged as a midfielder of great quality. He even scored a couple of goals against Mexico, though he very seldom indeed scores for Nantes, the club he helped to the top of the French League, winning in the process the title of its finest player. He's 28 and has plainly reached his peak.
Brazil had a wretched time of it, the almost immediate consequence of which was the departure of their coach and former goalkeeper Emerson Leao, jumping fractionally before he was pushed. He had, of course, had a dismal series of results, defeat in Ecuador, a dim draw at home at Peru, but getting rid of him when he'd been obliged to take such a feeble squad to the tournament was a bit like gaoling the notorious gangster Ali Capone on income tax evasion!
With the exception of the striker Sonny Anderson, who was quickly ruled out of action by injury, thus depriving the team of any real thrust, Leao had to do without his best European based players. Leandro of Fiorentina tried to take over as striker but was a blunt instrument. Added to which, the Brazilian Federation, pressured by its clubs, refused Leao any players involved in the Copa Libertadores, or in the last stages of the Rio and Sao Paolo championships.
Defeat by Australia in the third place match, 1-0, was the final humiliation, and could be a prelude to a much more important play off meeting in the World Cup, next November, should Brazil come only fifth in the South American section and the Aussies come through from Oceania. Clearly Brazil would then be able to field their supposed big guns, but they seem to have been firing blanks of late, while Australia would hope to call on their two formidable Leeds United attackers, Mark Viduka and the left sided Harry Kewell.
Never yet have Brazil failed to qualify for the World Cup finals from 1930 onwards, but there seems a real chance it might happen now. Their run in includes a visit to Buenos Aires, where the dazzling Argentina team will be dead keen to exact revenge for a surprising 3-1 defeat in their first meeting, and another to the breathless heights of La Paz where a much improved Bolivia await. Can big Phil Solari turn it round?
With Juan Sebastian Veron if not suspended in midfield, Kily Gonzalez streaking down the left, Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Lopez and Hernan Crespo available up front, Argentina can well cherish hopes of their third world title.
A flurry of European activity has given England hope of at least reaching the play offs, though Franz Beckenbauer has scornfully derided any chance that Germany can be toppled from first place in the group. The teams meet in Germany on September 1st when the Germans would hope to have their key Bayern Munich players, Jens Jeremies and the inventive Mehmet Scholl, back in midfield. In their two recent games, both were plainly missed, especially in Helsinki, where Germany were two goals down till near the end and might have been three down. Despite its abundant experience, the defence still seems porous and sometimes slow.
England won 2-0 in Greece and the euphoria over Sven Goran Eriksson, winning his first five games, continues, yet this is hardly an exciting team. David Backham makes productive use of his famous right foot, the Liverpool pairing of a rejuvenated Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen looks dangerous on the ground but there's still no real playmaker and the left flank, where Emile Heskey had an erratic time in Athens, awaits its ideal incumbent. Perhaps it will be the precocious young Bayern Munich midfielder, Owen Hargreaves, the season's revelation.
Poland in their group already seem home an dry. I was much impressed by them in Cardiff where their 2-1 win hugely flattered the Welsh. In the 22-year-old Nigerian, Emmanuel Olisadebe, they have an inspired opportunist, and though they were lacking half a dozen first choices that day, they still looked a powerful, intelligent, well balanced team. Ukraine in that group have simply faded away.
The Italians are cruising comfortably home under Gianni Trapattoni, and the return to form of Alex Del Piero, the "villain of the peace" in the Euro 2000 Final, adds to the threat of such as Marco Delvechhio, Pippo Inzaghi and Vincente Montella, not to mention Bobo Viere when he is fit.
There's a real dogfight in Group 2 where Ireland are still hot contenders. Even though the towering Niall Quinn, on whom so much depends in attack, had to come off the field injured in Estonia, they won convincingly, but Portugal and the Dutch are in fierce pursuit. Surely Holland, who left it so late in Estonia, must exploit sooner or later their abundance of strikers; Patrick Kluivert and the rest.
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