February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Jay Mwamba
U.S. coach Steve Sampson announced his resignation on Monday, four days after TEAM USA ended France ’98 with an 0-3 record. Sampson, who was appointed coach in August 1995, became the fifth coach to part company with his team after failure in France ’98. The Americans were beaten 2-0 by Germany, 2-1 by Iran and 1-0 by Yugoslavia in Group F. They finished last of the 32 teams in the expanded finals. Sampson finished with a record of 26 wins, 14 draws and 22 defeats.
Dutch treat
Holland, who overcame Ireland four years ago in the second round of USA ’94, have cleared the round of 16 hump again to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Controversial midfielder Edgar Davids drove in a fierce low shot in stoppage time to give the Dutch a 2-1 win over Yugoslavia in Toulouse, France, on Monday.
Davids, kicked off the Dutch side at Euro ’96 for criticizing coach Gus Hiddink, turned hero on his recall with the game headed toward sudden death overtime.
Yugoslavia had themselves to blame for the bitter loss. Star striker Predrag Mijatovic (51st) missed a penalty that could have put them 2-1 up after Slobodan Komljenovic’s header three minutes earlier had canceled out Dennis Bergkamp’s go-ahead goal (38th) for the Dutch.
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Komljenovic had also netted a header in the 1-0 decision over the United States last week that secured Yugoslavia’s place in the second round.
Holland were awaiting the winner of Tuesday night’s England-Argentina monster clash in St. Etienne to learn their rivals in Saturday’s quarterfinal in Marseille. That match can be seen on ABC and Univision at 10:30 a.m. (EST).
Hot Teutons
Juergen Klinsmann and Co. staged another one of their patent comebacks to knock out Mexico and advance to the quarterfinals via a 2-1 scoreline in sweltering Montpellier.
Klinsmann (75th) put the three-time champs on par with a feisty Mexican side that had taken a shock lead two minutes after the interval through Luis Hernandez, while Oliver Bierhoff clinched it with one of his trademark headers with four minutes to spare.
German coach Berti Vogts later said that his aging team had been affected by the heat.
The Germans, whose attacking tandem of Klinsmann and Bierhoff was also on target in 2-0 victories over the U.S. and Iran in the first round, face the survivor of the Rumania-Croatia second-round tussle, on Saturday (ABC, Univision, 3 p.m., EST).
Eagles plucked
The Laudrup brothers, Brian and Michael, turned on the heat to power Denmark to a stunning 4-1 annihilation of Olympic champs Nigeria in Paris last Sunday.
Michael set up Peter Moller for the ice-breaker after two minutes, Brian buried a rebound from a shot that goalie Peter Rufai failed to hold (12th), and then Michael again chipped to substitute Ebbe Sand, who scored with his second touch. Thomas Helveg sealed the rout (76th), while sub Tijani Babanginda (79th) got the Africans’ face-saver.
Denmark’s reward is a daunting quarterfinal clash in Nantes on Friday (ABC, Univision, 3 p.m., EST) with Cup holders Brazil who rebounded from a surprise 2-1 loss to Norway in Group A to thrash, Chile 4-1, in Paris.
Cesar Sampaio (11th, 27th) and Ronaldo (45th, 70th) connected. Marcelo Salas (68th) replied for Chile.
Bebeto (78th) had tallied earlier against the Norwegians, who’d handed the Brazilians their first defeat in World Cup play since 1990, with goals by Tore Andre Flo (83rd) and Kjetil Rekdal (89th).
French escape
Defender Laurent Blanc netted the first ever “golden goal” in World Cup history (114th) to set up a titanic quarterfinal showdown between hosts France and Italy this Friday (Univision, ESPN2, 10:30 a.m., EST).
Blanc beat giant Paraguayan goalie Jose Luis Chilavert with a close-range shot in Lens to save the French from a heart-stopping penalty shootout against the South Americans. The match was goalless after 90 minutes.
Spicy win
Manchester United midfielder David Beckham, who is also betrothed to Posh Spice, delivered the coup de grace with a sizzling free-kick (35th) in the 2-0 win over Colombia in Lens that put England in the second round last Friday. This, after Darren Anderton (25th) had driven a powerful volley into the roof of the net.
Romania topped Group G after overcoming an early scare against Tunisia to tie 1-all in Paris in their final group match. Skander Souayah (10th penalty) had the Tunisians ahead for most of the game before Viorel Moldovan (72nd) snatched a late equalizer.
Regg’ Boyz triumph
Theodore “Tapper” Whitmore (39th, 54th), earned Jamaica its first World Cup victory with both goals in a 2-1 romp over fellow debutantes Japan in the last Group H match, in Lyon. Masashi Nakayama (75th) was the Japanese scorer.
Argentina won the group, to confirm their second-round date with England, courtesy of Hector Pineda’s (36th) solitary goal against Croatia.
Close but no cigar
Pre-tournament favorites Spain opened the floodgates against Bulgaria in Lens, reeling off six goals for one in reply, but they still failed to survive Group D after Paraguay’s 3-1 win over Nigeria.
Fernando Hierro (6th), Luis Enrique (18th), Francisco Morientes (53rd, 81st) and Kiko (88th , 90th), struck for the Spaniards. Emil Kostadinov (57th) replied for Bulgaria.