Word: soccer
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...knocked Italy out of the Cup. Prior to his hometown heroics, Ahn was an unremarkable player for Perugia in Italy's Serie A league. Perugia president Luciano Gaucci last week booted Ahn off the team. "I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer," Gaucci hissed, calling the Korean's suddenly sensational play "an affront to Italian pride." In response, a philosophical Ahn thanked Italy for giving him the international experience that made him a better player. Is there a more gracious way to rub salt in a wound...
...finals. But fans back home are whispering that the team wasn't merely incompetent. Rumor has it that players, including star defender Fan Zhiyi, threw the match against Costa Rica, a 2-0 defeat, to make a little cash. A boom in illegal sports gambling has tainted China's soccer league, which uncovered a slew of crooked referees and players fixing games last year. But Fan adamantly denies any wrongdoing, and soccer pundits speculate that Chinese authorities may be encouraging the controversy to discredit him. One of the few Chinese players to make it overseas, Fan, who plays...
...provided some of the juice in Korea's fluid offense. Cognizant that his inexperienced squad could not match the artistry of, say, a Brazil, the former coach of Real Madrid and the Dutch national team prescribed a punishing training regimen that would enable the Koreans to simply outlast greater soccer powers. Seasoned players like captain Hong who couldn't keep up with the rigorous practices were threatened with dismissal, much to the horror of team officials used to putting loyalty before talent...
...These punk rockers of the soccer pitch are deceptively dangerous. The player with the Mohawk, Kazuyuki Toda, is a defensive pest, perpetually in the faces of opponents. "My job is to do the dirty work," he says. Co-defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto is so hyperkinetic it's a wonder he hasn't broken more than his nose, which was injured during a practice game and now requires the protection of a leather mask. On offense, Shinji Ono supplies the fancy footwork and sets up the pair of fair-haired attackers?Inamoto and the slightly disheveled beach bum of the two, Takayuki...
...against Tunisia on Friday when his header deflected off the goalkeeper's shoe and trickled into the net. His outward calm hides an inner fire. "I desperately wanted to score a goal," says Nakata. "We have a mission to show the rest of the world how good Japanese soccer really...