South Korea National Soccer Coach Advocaat Speaks To Media After The Draw For The 2006 Fifa World Cup Finals In Leipzig
FIFA World Cup™ fever swept across Asia in 2002 and another outbreak accompanied the Final Draw for Germany 2006.
The main symptoms this time were red eyes and sleepy heads after a long night for football fans across the continent. "Over 1,000 supporters, mostly teenagers and youngsters in their 20s, stayed up all night in a big gymnasium in eastern Seoul to watch the draw live on a big screen," reported Yonhap, the Korean news agency, capturing the excitement generated by events some 5,000 miles away in Leipzig.
At Asia's first FIFA World Cup finals, the South Koreans swept past some famous names to become their continent's first semi-finalists, while Japan reached the last 16. Now the target for the four qualified Asian teams – Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia – is to show they can make an impact on European soil but getting beyond the group stage is not guaranteed, as the media reaction to Friday's draw underlines.
European threat to South Koreans
For commentators in Korea Republic, the key to getting out of Group G will be the matches against Togo and Switzerland. Speaking to the Sports Seoul newspaper, the South Koreans' Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat, stressed the significance of the opening game against African first-timers Togo, saying: "Togo appear to be outsiders to me. The first match against Togo is important. Only a good performance and result in the opening game will prepare the team for the second game against France."
The third and final group match against Switzerland, meanwhile, is one that the South Koreans can win according to the Korean Times, which said: "The Swiss, ranked 38th in the FIFA/ Coca-Cola world ranking, are regarded as the weakest of the European representatives." However, the Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper warned: "France are a clear cut above all others and Switzerland are also a team to respect. They drew with France twice and eliminated Turkey in the qualifying campaign. We have to be careful as nothing is guaranteed."
'Not such a bad group' for Japan
Across the Sea of Japan, they were pondering the prospect of facing world champions Brazil in Group F. "Japan have never beaten Brazil in seven meetings, and the hopes of that changing at next year's finals in Germany appear grim," said the Daily Yomiuri, adding that "the Brazilians, unlike in 2002, are the early favourites to win their record sixth World Cup".
However, with Australia and Croatia the other opponents for Zico's team, there was cautious optimism in the Japan Times, where Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi was quoted as saying: "It was not such a bad group. (I,Andy,don't think so!!!!)We didn't want to be in Group C with the Netherlands and Argentina. Brazil will be the last match in the group and we had better qualify for the second round in the first two matches."
Mixed reaction in Iran
While Japan have to face Brazil, Iran's seeded opponents in Group D are Mexico and the Messina-based national team defender Rahman Rezaei told the Iran Students News Agency that the Iranians had nothing to fear from a section that also includes Angola and Portugal. "Considering the fact that nations such as Germany, England, Brazil or Argentina were among the seeded teams, I can say that we got a good draw." In the article he went on to say the Mexicans "lack speed", while Portugal have "not had good results lately".
The Iran Pas News Agency carried a rather different message in its interview with former Iran goalkeeper Nasser Hejazi, who said: "We could have had a better draw. We will have big problems against Mexico and Portugal and little-known Angola will also pose a big threat." Hejazi warned both players and supporters "not to fool ourselves" as "realistically speaking we have a minimum chance of finishing first or second in Group D".
Saudi optimism
Saudi Arabia did not send their coach Gabriel Calderon to the draw and the media response was comparatively muted - due in part to the headline-grabbing exploits of club side Al Ittihad at the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup 2005. Still, with Spain, Ukraine and Tunisia providing the opposition in Group H, there is hope in at least some quarters that they can fare better than during their disastrous campaign in Korea/Japan.
"I'm optimistic after we were drawn in this group," Prince Sultan bin Fahed, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation President, told the Al Riyadh Daily. The paper said the prince was looking to the team to "erase our disappointing display in 2002".
