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by Dino Scoppettone
32 countries, one ball, one Cup. With the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ underway, excitement has reached fever pitch around the world. The bookmakers have their favorites, and tons of soccer fans can foresee their home country making it far into the knockout stage -- but for many, such prognostication is more wishful thinking than educated guesswork. Still, the great thing about the World Cup is that it can be completely unpredictable -- an unheralded squad, like France in 1998, can come out of nowhere to stun the rest of the field and take home the prize. With the release of EA SPORTS? 2002 FIFA World Cup game, we now have the chance to look into our own crystal ball and try to predict who will end up duking it out in Yokohama, Japan on June 30th for the coveted trophy. Using the game, we played out an entire Virtual World Cup, with a PC computer and PlayStation® 2 console running the games with no external input (that is, there weren't actual people playing the games), so we could get as impartial a result as possible. These results may amuse, excite or enrage you, depending on which squad is your favorite. We?ll post the full results over the next few weeks leading up to the opening World Cup match on May 31. In this first installment, you can see how the teams fared in Group play, as we take a look at the first 48 matches. GROUP A: Defending Champs March On
This group proved to be a veritable cakewalk for defending champion France, which is a strong favorite to make it deep into the tournament once again. Les Bleus crushed Senegal in the Cup opener 3-0 as Thierry Henry scored twice, finishing a strike in the 27th minute and then finding the corner on a Zinedine Zidane cross in the 61st minute. David Trezeguet also chipped in as the first half ended to send the defending champs to the top of the table. Meanwhile, Uruguay took out Denmark 2-1, as the Danes opened first with a Jesper Gronkjaer goal 40 minutes in, only to let Uruguay on the board with an Alvaro Recoba strike four minutes later, before Dario Silva scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute. Uruguay couldn?t get anything going against France, as they managed only five shots against the French, who ultimately took the match 1-0 thanks to Trezeguet?s second goal of the tournament. Senegal then upset Denmark 2-1, realistically killing their hopes for advancement as midfielder Makhtar N'Diaye notched two second-half goals to set up his team?s third-game showdown against Uruguay for the right to move on. That game was a tight one, with Senegal peppering the Uruguay goal to no avail, and it was Recoba who ultimately was the only one to find the net, scoring in the 26th minute to give Uruguay the 1-0 win and second place in the group. France got goals from Henry, Trezeguet and Zidane in crushing Denmark 3-0 and ending their group play with an almost-flawless performance, scoring seven and allowing zero goals in its three matches.
Final results: France 3, Senegal 0; Uruguay 2, Denmark 1; France 1, Uruguay 0; Senegal 2, Denmark 1; France 3, Denmark 0; Uruguay 1, Senegal 0
GROUP B: It Rains On Spain
Spain entered group play as the heavy favorites to take the top spot, but its opening scoreless draw against surprising Slovenia was a precursor of things to come. The Spaniards dominated possession but could not find the back of the net as Slovenia?s defense stayed tight the entire match. Meanwhile, Paraguay dropped South Africa 2-0 thanks to first-half goals by Roque Santa Cruz and Francisco Arce. Slovenia?s defense remained rock-solid as it knocked off South Africa 1-0 in the next game, with forward Segastjan Cimirotic finding the goal in the 25th minute to provide the difference. Spain, however, dug itself a deeper hole by falling to Paraguay 2-0 despite outshooting the winners by almost double. A strike by Jose Saturnino Cardozo put Paraguay on the board midway through the first half, and Roberto Acuna sealed the deal in the 50th minute with his volley. Needing a win to stay in the hunt, Spain finally got on the scoreboard against South Africa, as defender Ivan Helguera notched a goal on a shot by Raul that rebounded off the right post. Still, the Spaniards broke down in the 43rd minute as South African Bennie McCarthy split the defense and threaded a shot into the right corner which equalized the match. The 1-1 tally proved to be the final, leaving Spain on the outside looking in ? and when Slovenia dropped Paraguay 1-0 in the last group match, that put Slovenia on top, one point ahead of Paraguay.
Final Results: Paraguay 2, South Africa 0; Spain 0, Slovenia 0; Slovenia 1, South Africa 0; Paraguay 2, Spain 0; Spain 1, South Africa 1; Slovenia 1, Paraguay 0
GROUP C: Crazy For Costa Rica
Like Spain in Group B, Brazil was the heavy favorite here ? the four-time World Cup champs came in ranked second in the world, while each of the three other teams were slotted no higher than 24th. That made Turkey?s 1-0 upset of the Brazilians in the opening game all the more unlikely. Brazil simply dominated play at the offensive end and churned out 16 shots, but they couldn?t get the ball past keeper Rustu Recber ? and when midfielder Tayfur Havutcu lobbed a cross into the top right corner in the 16th minute, Turkey had all it needed to pull off the stunner. In the other opener, Costa Rica dropped China 2-1, with the winner coming on an own-goal by Chinese defender Li Weifeng. Costa Rica kept up the heat by edging the surprising Turks 1-0 in the next game, the lone goal coming on a bullet from the top of the circle by Paulo Wanchope. Brazil, meanwhile, rebounded well from its opening defeat and got goals from Rivaldo and Edilson to beat China 2-1. That set up a clash between Brazil and Costa Rica, and the favorites took home the win, controlling the pace of play and getting the only goal of the match as Ronaldo converted in the 29th minute. That left Brazil and Costa Rica tied at the top with six points apiece, and Turkey could have joined them, but it couldn?t get past China, which stepped up to notch a 1-1 tie.
Final Results: Costa Rica 2, China 1; Turkey 1, Brazil 0; Brazil 2, China 1; Costa Rica 1, Turkey 0; Brazil 1, Costa Rica 0; Turkey 1, China 1
GROUP D: Poles Skewer America
Portugal and the United States were overwhelming favorites to move on from Group D, but the USA got off to a poor start by losing the opener 1-0 to Portugal after being dominated in every facet of play. Petit?s goal in the 16th minute provided the difference. Poland did quite well in its opener, firing away at beleaguered Korea to the tune of four goals. Emmanuel Olisadebe opened scoring in the 12th minute and the Poles steamrolled from there, taking the match 4-1. The USA didn?t do itself any favors in its second game, as the Americans were unable to score despite a much-improved effort. Korea couldn?t get onto the books either and the match ended 0-0, while Portugal punched itself a ticket to the knockout rounds by eclipsing Poland 2-1. Luis Figo got both goals for Portugal, converting a corner kick in the 27th minute and making an impressive run past two defenders before finishing the strike with three minutes left in the match. Knowing that anything other than a win would leave them out of knockout play, the USA came out strong against Poland, and in the 43rd minute, the Americans finally got on the board as Landon Donovan split two defenders and closed a nifty shot to give his team the lead. That held up until the 74th minute, when Olisadebe struck from the right side of the box to tie it, and he sealed the Americans? doom ten minutes later as he juked a defender and deposited the ball into the lower right corner to give Poland the 2-1 win and advance them to the knockout rounds. Meanwhile, upstart Korea took out Portugal in a 2-0 surprise win that meant little, as Portugal rested half its starters for most of the match.
Final Results: Poland 4, Korea 1; Portugal 1, USA 0; Korea 0, USA 0; Portgual 2, Poland 1; Korea 2, Portugal 0; Poland 2, USA 1
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