``For our nation it would have been fantastic to win just one match,'' said Ahmed Shahir, manager of Maldives soccer team.

Maldives, a soccer-crazy nation of about 250,000 people who live on 202 inhabited coral islands scattered some 800 square kilometres, played in the preliminaries with 22 other teams. But it was eliminated without a single victory.

So crazy are the Maldivians about soccer they chartered four Indian cargo ships to bring tons of sand and thousands of slabs of green grass to make proper soccer fields. The soccer fields are in the capital, Male, but even today players on other islands wait for low tide to start so that they get more space to practice.

The players often sustain injuries and the shoes don't last more than three months as Maldives sand contains coral that pierces them.

The nation, made upmostly of Sunni Muslims, holds a kind of soccer World Cup record: it lost 0-17 to Iran in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year.

Putting behind that humiliation, the Maldivian government, headed by South Asia's longest reigning leader, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, drew up a 12-year soccer training programme that involves even under-age 12 teams.

The country sought the help of former Rumanian star Victor Stanchules and former Uzbekistan player Solokho Vyacheslay as coaches.

Sport village flooded

First there were complaints of too little water at the Asian Games, then of too much, and now umbrellas have been banned.

The latest crisis came when a giant water tank burst near the quarters of the South Korean team in the Athletes Village inundating ground floor quarters and athletes bedrooms with thousands of cubic metres of water. The games organisers had apologised for the flood, which was caused by a broken valve in the tank, spokeswoman Valerie McKenziesaid.

Athletes had to be evacuated from their rooms, but the water has now dried up.

National police chief general Pracha Promnok, meanwhile, apologised for having to ban umbrellas from sports venues. ``Umbrellas are prohibited because we class them as objects that can be used as weapons,'' he told a news conference.

Athletes and spectators have complained about the heat of the tropical sun and have brought along umbrellas as sunshades.

PM son's birthday wish

Asian Games fever struck at the height of Thai politics today as 11-year-old Surabot Leekpai invaded the Prime Minister's office and demanded to be taken to see some of the events as a birthday present. Surabot, son of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, said his father had not so far found the time to take him to watch the 36-sport Games.

``Today is my birthday and the present I want most is for my father to take me to the Games,'' Surabot said.

Pros vs cell phones

Professional snooker players used to the rarefied atmosphere ofhalls in England during ranking events are finding it hard to cope with distractions at the Asian Games. Mobile phones emitting ringing noises ranging from Jingle Bells to Amazing Grace, excited chatter, people walking around the hall and even television cameramen scampering past the tables has led to a number of missed pots. ``It's been a bit difficult to cope with all that is going on in here especially as we are used to silent halls in the professional tournaments,''said singles finalist Shokat Ali of Pakistan. ``When I was lining up the pink in the last frame of my semi-final someone walked past my line and I made a mess of it,'' he said. ``When the chance came again I just hit it quickly so I would not be distracted.''

Horses to Iran's rescue

Iran have been allowed to stay in the Asian Games equestrian competition using Indonesian horses. Iran's own horses were banned after they arrived last month with incorrect veterinary papers. Iran will now lease horses from Indonesia which were used at arecent World Cup meeting in Thailand.

Jackie Chan rules

They like the food, the karaoke, and most of all, Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan. The Asian Games athletes village theatre has a schedule of about 40 Hollywood movies, but Jackie Chan has packed in the most residents so far. Chan's hit film Rush Hour is the most popular film, while second was another Chan movie Who am I?