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Monday, June 22, 1998

Total recall / Day 11

 
Group E: Holland 5 South Korea 0

Goals: 1-0: Cocu 38th; 2-0: Overmars 41st; 3-0: Bergkamp 71st; 4-0: Van Hooijdonk 78th; 5-0: R De Boer 82nd

Bookings: South Korea: Yong-Soo Choi, 27th.

90 minutes in 30 words: Holland, soporific for the first half hour and conceding enough of the play to suggest that a shock could be on the cards, woke up in style to score five goals which registered the biggest win of the tournament so far and revived memories of the national side's glory days.

Boy done good: Marc Overmars ran the South Korean defence ragged, scored one and had a better effort disallowed. His finish to a 36th-minute move was a cheeky back-heel, the like of which hasn't been seen since Billy Bremner toyed with Southampton in the early 70s. Sadly - although rightly - the goal was disallowed for offside.

Two left feet: Kim Tae-Yong was made to look very foolish by Dennis Bergkamp as the Arsenal striker waltzed around his desperate dive whilst wondering which side of the net the ball would lookbetter in.

Magic moment: The Dutch took the ball from the edge of their own area and passed it around for a while. After they got a bit bored, they picked up speed, stroked it up the pitch and, when finally fed up, gave it to Ronald de Boer to smash into the net.

Mr Sitter: Bergkamp let Arthur Numan's cross clatter about between his legs when he was standing alone on the six yard line. He made amends soon after with his wonderfully-taken goal.

Turning point: The three first-half minutes which burst South Korea's bubble. Before Philip Cocu found the net with a 20-yard drive, Holland looked edgy and could have been caught on the break more than once. South Korea had previously been impressive, but once Overmars had added Holland's second there was never going to be any doubt.

Ref-er-ee!: Was there one? Mr Wojcik only took his card out once and only blew up when necessary. Makes a pleasant change.

Terrace talk: Holland: "Hold on, is this 1974? "

South Korea: "Are you sure that ref didn't send acouple of us off?"

Group E: Belgium 2 Mexico 2

Goals: 1-0: Belgium: Wilmots 43rd and 48th; Mexico: Aspe (pen) 56th; Blanco 63rd

Bookings: Belgium: Vidovic, 69th; Mexico: Blanco, 45th; Ramirez, 39th; Red cards: Belgium: Verheyen 55th; Mexico: Pardo 29th

90 minutes in 30 words: If this is what happens when loads of people get sent off, let's have a bit more of it! Both teams ended the match with ten men and two goals, but in between the match could have been won by either side. The game should have been won by Belgium, but the Mexicans deserved it more.

Boy done good: Jesus Arellano. Brought on as a substitute at half-time, the 25 year-old dominated the middle of the park and made nonsense of coach Manuel Lapuente's decision to leave him on the bench.

Two left feet: Luc Nilis. Closely followed by his striking partner Luis Oliveira (who could at least take corners), Nilis had a stinker of a game. He failed to find space around the box and provided no threat whatsover outside of it. On the oneoccasion that a pass found its way beyond the Mexican defence and into Nilis' path, he couldn't even be bothered to run for it.

Magic moment: Arellano came incredibly close to scoring the goal of the tournament in the 85th minute. Picking up the ball just inside the Belgian half, Arellano traded a quick one-two with German Villa and then dashed clear of his marker.

Mr Sitter: Luis Hernandez, the hero of Mexico's victory against South Korea didn't look as special when a header from Oswaldo Sanchez rebounded off the bar right onto his feet. Contorting his body Hernandez, unbeknownst to the referee, could only make a connection with his hand, and even then the defender managed to clear.

Shiver the timbers: Sanchez's header came back off the bar after fellow Mexican Jaime Ordiales had hit a cross onto the top of the same piece of wood a few minutes later.

Turning point: Gert Verheyen's clumsy challenge which gave him the red card and the Mexicans a penalty kick with which to bring themselves back into thematch.

Ref-er-ee!: Fifa's new directives meant that both players had to go. But Scottish referee Hugh Dallas seemed initially reluctant to dismiss Verheyen and was inconsistent elsewhere in the match.

Terrace talk: Belgium: "Will we make it or won't we? Bring on South Korea."Mexico: "Top top top top top of the table."

Group H: Croatia 1 Japan 0

Goals: Davor Suker 77th

Bookings: Croatia: Robert Prosinecki 27, Mario Stanic 83

Japan: Hiroshi Nanami 42, Eisuke Nakanishi 70, Yutaka Akita 89

90 minutes in 30 words: The focus was always on Suker, who till he got the day's only goal looked like missing with each shot. Followers must have lost count after some time. Japan showed some spark at the start of the second half, and once came close to scoring but Shoji Jo sent a scissors kick wide of the post in the 58th minute. But most of the game played in 30 degrees plus belonged to Croatia. Suker, according to the doctor, lost 3.8 kgs and many goal-scoring chances in the match.

Boy done good:Suker, who else, for coming to Croatia's rescue yet again

Two left feet: Mario Stanic, who had Croatia's best chance in the first half, breaking in alone on Kawaguchi in the 19th minute, but he hit a right-footed shot from 10 metres that bounced several times before missing wide left.

Mr. Sitter: Suker and Stanic for countless misses

Magic moment: Suker ran on to a ball he had touched past a defender and caught kawaguchi off his line. As he neared the edge of the penalty area, Suker lofted a ball over the keeper but it had too much and bounded off the top side of the bar as Kawaguchi fell back into the goal.

Jeered: Ooops, Suker again. No prizes for guessing why !

Ref-er-ee: Ramesh Ramdhan of Trinidad and Tobago did not have much to do, except keep track of Suker's hits and misses

Terrace talk: Croatia: We only came to win

Japan: We will be back, we will be back... in 2002 and in 2006

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.


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