Let the Serious Soccer Begin

By GRAHAME L. JONES

June 27, 1998 12 AM PT

PARIS — Asia is out of it altogether.

Africa is down to one roll of the dice and hoping that Nigeria will make it a good one.

The honor of North and Central America and the Caribbean rests in Mexico’s hands, or at least at the feet of Luis Hernandez and friends.

South America still looks strong, with four teams left.

And Europe still has 10 teams lined up to try to wrest the World Cup away from Brazil, which helps start the second round of France 98 here tonight with a match against Chile at Parc des Princes.

Earlier in the day in Marseille, USA ’94 runner-up Italy plays Norway, a team it defeated 60 years ago en route to winning the 1938 World Cup. Italians hope that’s a good omen.

The deadwood, United States included, has been pruned from the World Cup ’98 tree. The competition now gets serious, with 16 of the original 32 countries remaining in the running for the world championship.

The knockout phase has been reached. It’s win or go home.

The four Asian teams--Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea--already have either left or packed their bags. They failed to win a game, but the Japanese impressed with their nonstop effort and Iran, of course, won the trophy it wanted by defeating the United States.

Of the five African challengers, only Bora Milutinovic’s Nigerians remain. That situation has brought the usual paranoid response from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which claims officials have been biased against African teams.

“We hope FIFA will take the necessary measures to rule out prejudice caused by one-sided refereeing of which our representatives have been victim,” said Mustapha Fahmy, CAF’s general secretary.

Nonsense, said David Will of Scotland, president of the FIFA referees’ commission. Or at least that’s what he would have said had he not needed to be a bit more restrained.

“The referees are not the slightest bit interested in the political situation,” is what Will actually said. “They are simply refereeing the game.”

So, having lost Cameroon, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, Africa’s fate now rests with Nigeria, which plays Denmark on Sunday in Saint-Denis. That game could go either way, pitting, as it does, the Nigerians’ speed and skill against the Danes’ organization and resolve.

Thanks to Nigeria’s loss to Paraguay--a possibly calculated defeat because it ousted potentially threatening Spain--the host nation, France, will play Paraguay in Lens in Sunday’s other game.

A French win, combined with a likely Brazilian victory over Chile, will cut South America’s challengers in half, leaving only the defending champion and fast-rising Argentina to carry the continent’s colors.

The Argentines, under 1978 World Cup-winning Coach Daniel Passarella, have looked strong while sweeping (and shutting out) their three first-round opponents.

“We have got better and better,” Passarella said Friday, “and I am feeling good about what we could do in the competition.”

Mexico’s coach, Manuel Lapuente, radiating in the suddenly newfound love of his compatriots after being pilloried by them earlier in the year, says his team has potential too.

“I think we are getting close to our best, but there are no limits,” he said Friday. “The sky’s the limit.”

Well, the sky is about to fall on Mexico in the shape of the German national team. The countries face each other Monday in Montpellier, and the odds must surely be with Coach Berti Vogts’ three-time world champions.

If Mexico could not defeat West Germany in the 1986 quarterfinals in Monterrey, Mexico, where it fought to a 0-0 tie but lost on penalty kicks, there is no reason it should turn the trick this time.

There is also the memory of the 1978 World Cup to consider, when West Germany, with Vogts in the lineup, thrashed Mexico, 6-0, in Cordoba, Argentina.

Of course, as CONCACAF champion, Mexico must surely do better against the Germans than the United States did in its 2-0 loss.

Monday’s other game sees the Netherlands playing Yugoslavia in Toulouse. Dutch Coach Guus Hiddink is not a happy soul these days. The Dutch have been inconsistent to say the least.

Hiddink’s name was proposed to Alan Rothenberg on Thursday as a potential future U.S. national team coach, but Rothenberg put a qualification in the way.

“Only if he can bring some of his players along,” U.S. Soccer’s president said.

But those players will have to pick up their game considerably if the Netherlands is to reach the quarterfinals.

“We know we have attained goal No. 1,” said Hiddink, who 20 years ago played in the North American Soccer League for Washington and San Jose. “We are happy that we are in the second round, but not very happy with the way we got there.”

The final set of second-round matches was not decided until late Friday night, when Viorel Moldovan scored a vital tying goal against Tunisia to give Romania first place in its group ahead of England.

That means Romania will play Croatia on Tuesday in Bordeaux, but more important, it sets up one of the classic confrontations of the World Cup: England versus Argentina.

The last time the countries met on this stage, in 1986, “the Hand of God” came into play at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

Of course, Diego Maradona is no longer around, so he will not be able to score a brilliant goal or an illegal one against England in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday.

All the same, the first meeting between former world champions at this tournament could be the game that sets France 98 alight.

In more ways than one.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ROUND TWO

Today

Italy vs. Norway

Brazil vs. Chile

Sunday

France vs. Paraguay

Nigeria vs. Denmark

Monday

Germany vs. Mexico