Any hope that England had to host the 2006 World Cup may have been lost last week.
On Saturday, England defeated Germany for the first time since 1966 in Group A play in the European Championships. But that victory, like so many matches involving the English team, was overshadowed by the actions of the English “supporters.”
Hundreds of English fans were arrested after starting fights with fans of other teams in the cities of Charleroi and Brussels. Most of those arrested have been deported from Belgium. The tournament is being held in Holland and Belgium.
Now, because of the violence involving the English fans, UEFA, the continent’s governing soccer body, has threatened England with expulsion from the tournament. England needs only one point in its final group match, against Romania, to advance to the quarterfinals.
“UEFA will have to determine whether the English team should stay in the tournament if there are any more incidents,” UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner said.
That does not bode well for England’s chances of hosting the World Cup in 2006. The announcement of the host country will be made in July, and it now appears that the tournament will be held in South Africa. It would be the first time that a World Cup would be held on the African continent.
Hurting England’s chances even more was the indictment of the British government by Euro 2000 director Alain Courtois.
“[The British government] did none of the things they promised to do to combat the hooligans,” Courtois said.
Courtois said that 14 known dangerous hooligans were allowed to leave England. “How can these people leave an island without being intercepted? Obviously, there has been a very lax attitude from the British government.”
Sunday’s action: Two matches were played in Group C Sunday. Spain avoided embarrassment by defeating Slovenia 2-1. The victory gave the talented but enigmatic Spaniards their first points of the tournament. Yugoslavia defeated Norway 1-0 on a goal from Savo Milosevic. Yugoslavia leads the group with four points. Spain and Norway have three points apiece.
German disarray: Germany, one of Europe’s perennial soccer powers, is in danger of being knocked out of the tournament in the group phase. The Germans have only one point after two matches and need to beat Portugal in their final match and hope that Romania defeats England. There also appears to be infighting on the team over the selection of MetroStars defender Lothar Matthaus for Saturday’s match against England. Matthaus had a particularly horrid match in the opening draw against Romania. Many of the German players thought that Matthaus should have been dropped for the England match. Matthaus played the entire match.
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“The English had one chance and scored a goal,” Matthaus said. “We played much better than in our first match, but it was not enough.” England captain Alan Shearer scored the only goal of the match.
If the Germans do not advance, Erich Ribbeck would be the first German coach not to lead his team past the group stage of a major tournament in 16 years. Not surprisingly, Ribbeck is expected to be replaced as coach after the tournament.
Safely through: Four teams have advanced to the quarterfinals with a game to spare. Italy, Portugal, Holland and France will be able to rest some of their starters in the final group matches this week to prepare for the knockout phase.
Getting late: It’s just the halfway point, but D.C. United’s loss to the Fire on Saturday left the defending champions still at the bottom of the MLS standings and in danger of not making the playoffs.
“This was another tough loss for us to swallow at a juncture where we can’t lose points,” United coach Thomas Rongen said. “Up 2-1 we should have killed the game, and our inability to do so haunts us.”
Rongen said that next week’s match against the MetroStars is a must-win for United. The MetroStars already have beaten United twice this season.
Potential trouble: D.C. United playmaking genius Marco Etcheverry threatened to leave MLS after Saturday’s match because of what he called poor officiating by referee Kevin Stott. “I can’t play with a referee who doesn’t make the right calls,” Etcheverry told the Washington Post. “I want to talk to who runs the league. … I want to help the league, I don’t want to fight the referee.”
United President Kevin Payne, who was at the match, downplayed his superstar’s comments.
“He’s frustrated,” Payne said of the Bolivian. “He thought some calls should’ve gone our way. He has said things like that before.”
Lasting effects: Perhaps the Chicago Sockers’ victory in penalty kicks over the Kansas City Wizards last Wednesday had a carryover effect on the Wizards. Kansas City traveled directly to Dallas on Thursday to face the Burn and was hammered 4-1 in the Cotton Bowl. Kansas City had allowed only eight goals all season entering the match.
Since dropping its first match of the season to the Fire, on June 4, the Wizards have had a draw and two losses.
Good Man U news: Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs said that he wants to stay at Old Trafford for the remainder of his career. “I’m a Red for life,” Giggs said. “Years ago I was tempted to look abroad, but the motivation was to improve my game. It never was money. I want to win trophies every season, and that’s going to happen at Manchester United, so why leave?”