World Cup Plaza, D-80

U.S. defeats Ecuador To Say "Good Bye"

- The U.S. soccer team, which will face Korea in the group league during World Cup, is on a rise. In the match with Ecuador that took place in Alabama’s Birmingham, U.S.A., on the 11th, the U.S. team kept Eddy Louis (England Fulham)’s goal, which was scored 21 minutes after the first half’s beginning, until the final whistle to claim victory.

U.S. now has the record of 6 wins, 1 tie, 1 defeat in this year’s A-Match, including the Gold Cup. It has won the second consecutive victory after defeating Honduras by 4-0 on the 3rd. The U.S. team is to have another evaluation match with Germany on the 28th.

Belgium Prepares Massive Cheering

- Asahi Shimbun reported on the 10th that Belgian Football Association, which is in the same H Group with Japan, is to invite 200 soccer supporters, including royal authorities like the Prince Philip couple, Foreign Affairs minister Michelle, and various industry representatives.

As the Japanese match is the first one in the group league, even Belgium’s social leadership class is hyped up with great interest.

Portugal’s Sa Pinto To Miss World Cup

- The Portuguese national soccer team’s striker, Ricardo Sa Pinto (29), will not participate in the World Cup. According to Yahoo’s World Cup site (fifaworldcup.yahoo.com), Sa Pinto is to have a knee surgery this weekend, and recovery would take at least 6 months. Sa Pinto has played a total of 45 inter-national team matches, scored 10 goals, and played his last A-Match in last June, when he was substituted during the World Cup preliminary against Kypros.

- 2002 World Cup’s international referees will have a physical training session along with discussion sessions about the game management system at Seoul’s Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium and Swiss Grand Hotel from 20th to 23rd. The referee seminar will host a total of 123 individuals, including 72 referees, 13 match supervisors, and 15 FIFA representatives. Especially, the referees are to take physical and medical tests, and they will be assigned to matches according to results.

Keuk-In Bae bae2150@donga.com