| |
|
|
|
 |
|
Giants of game stay on topFour years ago, half of the quarter-finalists at the World Cup were from nations with no history of major football success. Turkey, South Korea, Senegal and the United States gave the tournament a truly global look and two of them made it to the semi-finals. And after some first-round upsets this year, unfamiliar faces mixed in with the powerhouses among the last 16 with Australia and Ecuador joining World Cup newcomers Ukraine and Ghana. But of the four, only Ukraine made it to the quarter-finals. The reality is that, once again, the same names are chasing football's biggest prize. One of the quarter-finals at this year's World Cup has three-time champions Germany hosting Argentina, who have won the title twice. Brazil, record five-time World Cup winners and also the defending champions, will face 1998 champion France. Italy, another three-time winner, must get past Ukraine, while 1966 champions England face Portugal, which is coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man who led Brazil to their fifth title four years ago. TOUGHER AND TOUGHER "The big guys are coming to the quarter-finals. It is getting closer and closer," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "It's getting tougher and tougher. When you come to this moment, you have to put extra and extra and everything into it." Six of the eight quarter-finalists have won the title before. Although Cameroon made it to the quarter-finals in 1990, there were six Europeans still in contention and West Germany triumphed. Before 2002, you have to go back to Mexico in 1986 to find fewer than six teams from Europe in the last eight. It's not a healthy sign if football is to improve its reputation as a true world-wide sport. Maybe on the truly neutral venues of South Korea and Japan, European teams didn't adjust properly to the climate, time zones or even the food. The Koreans also had home advantage as they went all the way to the semi-finals, but that doesn't explain why Turkey got there, too, and the Americans and Senegalese reached the last eight. Turkey and Senegal didn't even qualify this time. The problem is that Europe, and particularly the big leagues in Spain, Italy, England and Germany, dominate the game. TOP WAGES They have the clubs who can pay the top wages and that attracts the biggest names from South America, Asia and Africa. Meanwhile, the entire Italian squad at the World Cup plays in Italy. All but two of England players are in the Premier League and only three Germans will play outside the Bundesliga next season. Although many of the French players play for clubs in other countries, they are still just a short flight home. The same applies to Spain and Portugal. The big exceptions are Brazil and Argentina. The vast majority of their players are in Europe, but at least they play regularly together. Look at the Brazilian World Cup stars with Real Madrid - Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Robinho and Cicinho. AC Milan has Dida, Cafu and Kaka. Argentina have three players from Inter Milan and left three more at home. Of the five Argentina players who are at Spanish club Villarreal, two are here at the World Cup. While Major League Football in the United States is improving steadily and is healthy, football in Africa and Asia will never reach any heights because their leagues and clubs will never be able to compete financially with the Europeans and, to a lesser extent, the big South American clubs. The only way of stopping the trend is to limit the number of overseas players clubs can have on their payrolls. But that would break the strict European laws on free trade and UEFA has already been stung by that. In the meantime, the likes of South Korea, Japan, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Australia will no doubt be back to FIFA's big World Cup jamboree. Once the quarter-finals come around, however, they will be shown the way out.
|
|
