Ronaldo now in select
company
Ronaldo's two goals in Sunday's final put him in elite company. Nine
players, three of them Brazilians, have scored two or more goals in a
World Cup final.
Two sets of teammates have each scored a pair in a World Cup final. Vava
and Pele led Brazil to its first World Cup title in 1958, scoring two
apeice. Gino Colaussi and Silvio Piola scored twice for Italy in the
1938 final, a 4-2 win over Hungary.
Geoff Hurst is the only player to record a hat trick in a final, for
England in 1966.
Official may be sign of
tough times
German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had an idea his team might be in trouble
in the World Cup final against Brazil as soon as the name of the referee
was announced.
It's not that he's got anything against Italian official Pierluigi
Collina, widely regarded as the world's best referee. It's that Kahn's
teams always seem to lose whenever Collina is in charge.
Collina was the referee when Manchester United scored two injury time
goals to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the 1999 European Champions League
final. Then, in a World Cup qualifier last September, England came to
Munich and won 5-1.
Determining champ took
some time
It took two years, three months and 26 days to determine the new world
champion.
Marvin Andrews scored the first goal in this World Cup adventure on
March 4, 2000, as Trinidad and Tobago defeated the Netherlands Antilles
5-0 in a first-round CONCACAF qualifier. And 840 matches later, Ronaldo
scored the 2,613th goal of World Cup play, earning Brazil its fifth
title.
Of the 193 teams that participated in the World Cup, the Netherlands
Antilles was the first eliminated from the competition, while three-time
champion Germany was the 192nd.
Koreans showing true
color in drink
Jubilant South Koreans are celebrating their soccer team's stunning
showing in the World Cup by dying their hair red, sporting tattoos of
the country's flag, and bestowing honors of every sort on Coach Guus
Hiddink. Now comes red-hued cocktails in honor of the beloved squad.
"The Red Devil" (named for the team's booster group) is made of vodka,
sloe gin, cherry brandy, pineapple juice and grenadine syrup. "Korea
Team Fighting," meantime, is a concoction of champagne, strawberry
syrup, lime juice and cranberry juice.
Brazilians show elation
with win
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The sounds of car horns, plastic trumpets and
fireworks filled the air as Brazil celebrated an unprecedented fifth
World Cup title.
Samba drums set thousands of beach-goers dancing in their bathing suits
and yellow Brazil jerseys before a giant-screen TV set up on Rio de
Janeiro's Copacabana beach.
Tears smudged the green and yellow paint on the faces of teen-agers and
strangers hugged each other amid cries of "Brazil! Brazil!" and
"Five-time champion!"
Across the nation, from the Pampas to the Amazon rainforest, fans could
barely contain their joy.
