Eastern Promise But No Progress in 2002

The 2002 World Cup was jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea, the first time the tournament had been held in Asia. Unlike in the USA, eight years earlier, there were ticketing problems throughout the competition and many seats were left empty. However, just as eight years earlier, those who were lucky enough to be there were able to see Brazil win the title again – their fifth. It was also the first time that a team had won every World Cup match it had played since Pele, Jairzinho and co had done so for Brazil in the 1970 tournament.

Also in the east – of England – we had bought a motorhome called Molly and spent a lot of time by the seaside or further afield as family trips supplemented our happy lives in Cambridgeshire. Sam was now playing football regularly for a local village team – Witchford Colts – while Nathan’s love of music and dance was equalled by all things Leeds United.

Hayley had a vague football allegiance to Liverpool as did her mother, being born in that city. Thankfully Michelle was far too busy building her own successful community dance school to remark on the relative football failure abroad of both Leeds and England.

We had watched the big European matches on television the previous year as David O’Leary’s Leeds United side reached the semi-final of the European Champions League, as it was now called. Unfortunately, that was to be the latest peak in the club’s history and the glass floors and ceilings were about to be smashed as assuredly as Chairman, Peter Ridsdale’s aquarium.

Nathan, Sam and I had also cried together as Leeds United supporters had died before the club’s away tie at Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup where our children saw the thin line between tragedy and glory for the first time in their young lives. In fact, I believe that was the beginning of the end for that particular Leeds team and, though obviously unjustified, took no pleasure in watching Turkey progress to third place in the 2002 World Cup, compared to the joy I had felt when they had knocked Germany out eight years before.

The 2002 tournament was the first where all seven previous winners were taking part, though the previous champions, France, were knocked out more quickly than a medical bulletin from Bryan Robson or sick note from Darren Anderton. The tournament also saw the quickest goal ever, from Sukur of Turkey straight from the kick-off against South Korea in the play-off match for third place – in 10.8 seconds; yet South Korea had kicked off.

We watched the first England game against Sweden on the television in Molly. We were staying at Bantry Bay in the west of Ireland and had experienced the first match played by the Irish a few days previously. The country was awash with green flags and bunting and, no matter that their captain Roy Keane had walked out on the football team, they were truly united as a nation. The luck of the Irish eventually ended on penalties against Spain who thought they were finally getting revenge on Gerry Armstrong’s team from twenty years earlier. It seemed wrong to correct a team that would fail at the quarter-final stage once again.

We returned to England to see David Beckham’s own penalty against Argentina release him from the pent up anger and pain he had felt for the previous four years – much in the same way that Stuart Pearce had found peace against the Germans six years previously. We watched that match at home with Gavin, a friend I had made while commuting back and forward to London. I was commuting less often now, being able to go online and work from our country cottage while our country, like all others, failed yet again to beat Brazil.

See also:

1998: http://sportales.com/soccer/stylish-french-and-the-deja-vu-in-1998/

1994: http://sportales.com/soccer/hot-and-happy-states-in-1994/

1990: http://sportales.com/soccer/none-shall-sleep-in-italia-90/

1986: http://sportales.com/soccer/did-god-exist-in-1986/

1982: http://sportales.com/soccer/the-rain-and-spain-in-1982/

1978: http://sportales.com/soccer/i-cried-but-not-for-argentina-in-1978/

1974: http://sportales.com/soccer/by-the-1974-world-cup-i-had-grown-but-we-had-declined/

1970: http://sportales.com/soccer/the-1970-world-cup-the-end-of-a-golden-age/

1966: http://sportales.com/soccer/i-was-six-in-1966-and-thought-the-world-cup-was-just-for-fun/

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