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Japan-Korea 2002 |
September 2002
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Repairing World Class Soccer
And thus ends another World Cup, Brazil against Germany, with the Samba side winning. No surprise there really. And yet, there were some surprises -- provided by a French side that played like Americans used to. And by Argentina that went nowhere.
Yet the unpredictable first round gave way to a Group of 16 that gave us a foreordained final. Or did anyone really think that Mexico would play Senegal in the final? And so, there are a few changes that should be made.
Brazil's neighbors must immediately attack and dismember it. It's been too good too long to survive. I propose that Argentina and Venezuela get together right now to discuss it.
Also, East Germany must be revived. Not only will this cut into West Germany's talent pool, but it will bring balance to women's swimming and return humor to scoring figure skating.
The renamed African Union (formerly the Organization of African Unity) should put its money where its mouth is and have just one team from all of sub-Saharan Africa. Senegal beat France, so it can form the core of the team, but throw in some South Africans, and let Nigeria's size loose, and maybe, just maybe, they'll win it next time.