Inside the Camps

BelgiumCoach Georges Leekens blamed his side for throwing away a two-goal lead after their 2-2 Group E draw with Mexico. We sat back when we...

Belgium

Coach Georges Leekens blamed his side for throwing away a two-goal lead after their 2-2 Group E draw with Mexico. We sat back when we went two goals up and paid the penalty. I would have thought with our experience we would have known how to defend a two-goal lead, quot; he said after Mexico fought back to snatch a draw as both sides had a player sent off. Leekens also complained of the heat which left several of his players dehydrated.

Brazil

Brazil are nowhere near their best, warned goalkeeping legend Gilmar. The 67-year-old hero of Brazil8217;s 1958 and 1962 World Cup winning sides, is convinced that coach Zagallo must make several changes before the side begin firing on all cylinders.

Holland

Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp saluted his teammates on Saturday after they crushed South Korea 5-0 here for their biggest ever Cup win and insisted they could go on to lift the trophy. quot;That was a good game for us. This is how we should play,quot; said Bergkamp after scoring the third goalin a rampaging performance.

Italy

Cesare Maldini warned his men on Saturday that if they do not keep improving, the finalists of USA 8217;94 will be going home next week. Italy wobbled badly in their opening 2-2 draw with Chile and were dominated for most of the second half before beating Cameroon 3-0. Maldini is satisfied with the improvement from one match to another, but he said: quot;We have to keep getting better. If we don8217;t, we8217;ll be going home.

Japan

Croatia knocked Japan out of World Cup contention with a 1-0 win but the co-hosts of the 2002 finals in Asia are already looking to the future. quot;For Japanese football, the World Cup does not end with this result. It will go on for 2002 and 2006,quot; coach Takeshi Okada said. quot;For me, personally, the goal is to win our next group match against Jamaica and we will put all we have into it.quot;

Norway

Norway need to beat world champions Brazil in Marseille on Tuesday to avoid coach Egil Olsen making a sad, losing exit. But Olsen said he wastreating the match no differently to any other. quot;There is no difference,quot; he said as the team departed their training camp here. quot;It is only a football game, just like all the others. It is an especially important one of course, but one of the things that makes it special is that we don8217;t know if it is the last.quot;

South Korea

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Coach Cha Bum-Kun admitted his side never had a chance against an quot;invinciblequot; Holland who went top of Group E after powering to a 5-0 win at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday. quot;Holland were excellent today. They produced a lot of great moves and if they continue like this I think they they can win. Against Mexico we simply weren8217;t good enough, but Holland were just invincible,quot; the coach said.