World Cup 98

One company turns the Paris la Defense skyscraper district into a mass of advertising hoardings. The other has a football park near the Eiffel Tower, huge enough for 40,000 players a day.

For the sportswear industry the World Cup has already begun 8211; and the two biggest players, Nike of the United States and Adidas of Germany, are waging a tougher promotion war than ever before. quot;You only have to look at the budgets involved,quot; says FIFA communications director Keith Cooper. quot;The biggest single sporting event in the world means massive spending.quot;

A dozen sportswear manufacturers kit out the 32 World Cup teams, with Adidas and Nike each taking six as the most prominent companies, although Germany8217;s Puma also supplies six teams.

Adidas, as official World Cup sponsor, has also acquired apresence at all matches and FIFA events. Their teams apart from Germany are France, Argentina, Yugoslavia, Romania and Spain.

In addition to Ronaldo8217;s Brazilians, Nike are kitting out Holland, Italy, the United States, Nigeria and South Korea.

quot;The battle8217;s got harder because there8217;s a new competitor,quot; says Adidas spokesman Peter Csanardi of the American company, which is making inroads in what for decades was an Adidas preserve. Adidas has responded with the biggest campaign in its history, crowned with last weekend8217;s launch of the Trocadero Football Park for kids opened by out-going FIFA president Joao Havelange.

Nike had already made its own big launch two days earlier when the entire Brazilian team opened the 8,000-square-metre People8217;s Republic of Football in the Nike Park at La Defense.

The battle of the two giants had already reached an earlier climax in March when Germany hosted Brazil in a warm-up friendly in Stuttgart.

Nike, market leader with a total annual turnover of more than fivebillion, has secured the services of the current world champions for the next decade, at a cost of some 350 million. The match was televised in two parallel live broadcasts 8211; for German spectators from the main stand, from where Adidas advertising was visible, and for the international market from the opposite side, from where Nike advertising was visible.

That will not be possible at the World Cup because Nike has no relations with FIFA. Adidas, second to Nike worldwide with a turnover of nearly three billion, has a firm grip of the World Cup, with an investment of over 25 million. The company is a member of the official FIFA sponsoring pool, is kitting out the referees and 12,000 helpers, supplying the balls, advertising in all the stadiums and is visible on all licensed world cup mascots and textiles 8211; including the Brazilian fan shirts.

Player Watch

Croatia8217;s top striker Davor Suker 8211; buoyed by a hat-trick against Australia at the weekend 8211; says he isready to make soccer history at France. quot;I am too cunning and too intelligent to go unprepared to the World Cup,quot; Suker told the daily Vecernji List8217;. He added the World Cup was his chance to quot;make historyquot;, not only in Croatia but also in world soccer. quot;I feel perfect, I have been doing extra training so I can explode at the World Cup. I want to explode, I am ready for it.quot;

Suker has been out of form for much of the season 8212; before notching a goal in last week8217;s warm-up against Iran, he had not scored since early October. On Saturday, he added three more 8211; albeit two from the spot 8211; against Australia. Suker said Croatia were able to beat any team in the world including Brazil, but could also lose to weaker opponents. quot;I would also point out as an advantage our mentality 8211; the will to prove ourselves, and to represent our small country abroad,quot; Suker said.

At 18, Shinji Ono is the kid on Japan8217;s World Cup squad. But the shy, quiet midfielder happens to be Japanese soccer8217;sbiggest hope for the future. quot;He has fantastic talent,quot; coach Takashi Okada said. Ono8217;s dream is to sign with a foreign league club, perhaps in Spain, Italy or England. quot;I8217;ve always thought the World Cup was out of reach, so I8217;m happy this is a reality,quot; he said. Ono possesses a dancelike finesse in dribbling that makes him delightfully fun to watch. In recent practice, he made dazzling penalty kicks, sending the ball over players8217; head with artful precision.

The 1.75 metre, 74 kg Ono has also shown remarkable leadership, confidence and charm for someone so young, quick to draw laughs with his unpretentious jokes. But Ono showed a bit of the little boy left in him when asked to name the most important person in his life. quot;My mom,8221; he said.

Bulgaria8217;s Luboslav Penev, whose problems with cancer forced him to miss the last World Cup in the USA, is delighted to have another chance at World Cup glory.The player underwent surgery for testicular cancer fours years ago andhad to miss Bulgaria8217;s heroics in grabbing fourth spot in the World Cup later that year.

But, since his problems, the 31-year-old forward has seen a dramatic upswing in his fortunes, perhaps because of his undoubted fighting spirit in battling back from his health problems.

Penev8217;s 16 league goals in 1996 were a major reason for his then club Atletico Madrid8217;s revival in the Spanish league. And he celebrated the end of the season with Championship and Cup Winner8217;s medals as Atletico claimed the double.

quot;It8217;s just great to have this chance after missing USA,quot; said Penev at the team8217;s headquarters at Le Coudray Montceaux, 30km south of Paris.

The talents of Hristo Stoichkov, Emil Kostadinov and Penevcould once again help Bulgaria to great heights here in France.

French Cuppa/ QUICKSIPS

Ready for a joint team

North Korea is ready to field a joint football team with arch rival South Korea and also to host some 2002 World Cup final matches, a Pyong Yang football chief was quoted assaying on Tuesday. quot;It is not yet the stage to go into details with the South, but it would be very desirable to form a joint Korean team and for some of the 2002 World Cup finals to be held in the North,quot; the vice-president of North Korea8217;s Football Association, Choi Pyung-Su, said in an exclusive interview with the Sports Seoul daily in Paris.

quot;Once the empty post of North Korean Football Association president is filled, the atmosphere will change and talks with the South will get active,quot; said Choi, who was in Paris to take part in the meeting to choose a new FIFA president.

The comments were the first reaction from a North Korean official over South Korea8217;s calls to form a joint South-North Korean football team.

Seoul has also offered to let Pyong Yang host some of the matches in the North during the 2002 World Cup finals, which will be co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

Mandela8217;s good luck note

President Nelson Mandela has sent each member of the Bafana squad and coach PhillipeTroussier a personal note of encouragement ahead of their opener against France on Friday. Since Mandela will be unable to watch quot;The Boysquot; due to various meetings, he sent all 22 players and their French coach a personal note to wish them well, The Star newspaper reported Tuesday.

FIFA family grows further

Palestine was among six soccer authorities added to the FIFA rolls yesterday, bringing total membership to 206. Others approved were Eritrea, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Mongolia. The Palestine Football Association has been a provisional member of FIFA since 1995 but now has added powers, including voting in federation elections.

Soccer time means no war

Flags from Italy, Brazil and Germany cover campaign posters for municipal elections. Restaurants are scrambling to buy TV ssets. Street peddlers are hawking a range of France 8217;98 accessories. And this is Beirut. Although Lebanon is not participating, World Cup fever is in full force here. Thetournament has always been a hit in this soccer-mad nation. During the Civil War from 1975 to 1990, militiamen were known to stop shooting and residents would crank up electrical generators to watch matches.

Ensuring against power cuts

Hanoi has taken steps to prevent power blackouts during the World Cup and is restricting facilities where it can be viewed publicly to prevent public disorder, an official said on Tuesday.