The Word on the Street
16 Jun 2006Cafu and Carlos evergreen says Aussie
Brazilian defender Cafu kicks the ball during the World Cup 2006 group F football game Brazil vs. Croatia 13 June 2006 at Berlin stadium. AFP PHOTO VANDERLEI ALMEIDA
Australian star Harry Kewell has dismissed talk that Brazilian old guard defenders Cafu, 36, and Roberto Carlos, 33, are past their playing best.
"They're up and down, they're running more than a 20-year-old," said Kewell, who will play against Brazil on Sunday.
"So I think that's rubbish what people are saying, that they're old, they're not fit."
Cafu, the Brazilian captain, plays his club football at AC Milan alongside Australian goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac.
"Spider (Kalac) says Cafu is the fittest person at the club," said Kewell.
"You're only as old as you feel and as young as you feel."
England hail qualification and Rooney return
England's newspapers shrugged off concerns about the national side's lacklustre World Cup form on Friday as they celebrated qualification for the 2nd round and Wayne Rooney's return to action.
"We're thROO," was the headline of the Daily Mirror and Daily Star, while The Sun, went for "Nice to See Roo," and headlined its back page with "Smackeroo" above a picture of Rooney embracing fellow Liverpudlian Steven Gerrard.
The relief at seeing Rooney back in an England shirt after his rapid recovery from a broken foot was summed up The Times, which said the side's "hesitant and uncertain World Cup campaign acquired hope and purpose within a single minute," when the 20-year-old came on as a substitute.
England offered Caribbean trip for win
English midfielder Steven Gerrard (R) and Peter Crouch celebrate at the end of their opening round Group B World Cup football match against Trinidad and Tobago at Nuremberg's Franken Stadium, 15 June 2006. England won the match 2-0. AFP PHOTO / DDP / TORSTEN SILZ
Virgin Atlantic airways boss, the British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, offered England's footballers a trip to his private Caribbean island Friday, but only if they win the World Cup.
Branson, who owns Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, made the offer after watching the national side beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 on Thursday evening to qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition in Germany.
Branson, who was not in Nuremberg for the last-gasp victory, predicted that the trophy was "back within our grasp" 40 years after their first and only outright victory in the tournament.
"If they succeed I'll fly the whole team to beautiful Necker Island to celebrate and enjoy a well-earned rest," he said.
Former coach says Japan lack maturity
Philippe Troussier, who coached Japan to the second round in their last World Cup, said Friday the team maturity and "aggressiveness".
The team, now under Brazilian legend Zico, were humiliated in their opener witho Australia, giving up three goals in the final eight minutes to lose 3-1.
"It all went well until Kawaguchi (the 'keeper) made a small mistake. With a flick of the hand, the pack of cards came tumbling down," Troussier told a news conference in Tokyo.
"I am sure the first moments after the Australian goal were very tough. But the Japanese are not sufficiently armed to withstand moments that this high-level competition demands," the feisty Frenchman said.
Japan's Nakata - plays hard, talks tough
Japan star Hidetoshi Nakata, who acts like a drill sergeant for the struggling Asian champions, also talks no nonsense with media off the pitch.
The 29-year-old rarely stops in the reporters "mixed zone" of a stadium for random interviews. But, when he does, you'd better watch your words -- especially after Japan lost their World Cup opener against Australia.
When one reporter described Japan's struggle as a "do-or-die situation," he quipped: "Why do you have to die?"
"I think you guys are always not optimistic ... so pessimistic," Nakata hit back when asked if Japan could earn four points in the remaining games against Croatia and Brazil.
"We still have two matches. We could get six points," the two-time Asian Footballer of the Year told reporters.
Maradona and Pele praise Lahm
Both Diego Maradona and Pele, arguably the two greatest ever footballers, have showered high praise on Philipp Lahm but the Germany left back vowed to keep his feet rooted to the ground for the World Cup.
Argentina's 1986 World Cup hero Maradona said Lahm 'could be the star of this World Cup', while Brazil's three-time World Cup winner Pele said he was Germany's stand-out player and did not get enough credit as he was a defender.
"I am not getting carried away. I did not even expect to play the first match after two weeks out through injury. It was emotional for me," said Lahm.
"The main thing is to have fun playing football and then you can perform well."
"We were delighted with Philipp's first two performances. We know all about his qualities," said manager Jurgen Klinsmann.
It has gone so well that English champions Chelsea are reportedly trying to pry him away from Bayern Munich.
Numerology
Germans see a good omen in the dates of their previous titles.
They won in 1954, 1974 and 1990 and if, playing the numbers game, one multiplies 54 by 74, that equals 3996.
If you then subtract 1990, that leaves 2006.
German pop group Sportfreunde Stiller is at number 12 in the national charts with their hit "54, 74, 90, 2006" in honour of the formula.
Pride in losing for "Soca Warriors" fans
Trinidad and Tobago's World Cup heroes may have lost 2-0 to England on Thursday but that did little to dampen celebrations at home over the side's performances in Germany.
The mood around the capital was upbeat Port-of-Spain, with most fans proud of the team's performance. "I'm going to wear red tomorrow. We still have to show support," said Lisa Ready after the match.
Talk at bars after the match focused on how well the "Warriors" played and how England was sufficiently worried to bring on star striker Wayne Rooney.
Rooney's entrance was seen as a victory by some. "Hey, we've made it to Germany, we've done good already. What more do you want?" one fan asked.
Not everybody was upbeat. "The last thing I saw was the sad look on Shaka's face," said an ice cream vendor.
Thuram to equal record French caps record
Lilian Thuram is set to equal Marcel Desailly's record of 116 appearances for France against South Korea on Sunday.
The Juventus defender made his debut for the Bleus on June 17, 1994 - the same day as another leading luminary of Raymond Domenech's World Cup squad, Zinedine Zidane.
Thuram, 34, modestly puts the milestone down to two things - his good fortune at never having suffered serious injury, and to keeping his level of play at a certain level.
Thuram has two goals to his name - both scored against Croatia in France's 1998 World Cup winning campaign.
"I reckon the day I die they'll be showing images of my two goals," said the Caribbean-born Thuram.
Touching Spiderman celebration gets nod
Ecuador's troublesome striker Ivan Kaviedes will not face punishment by FIFA over his celebrations after he scored the South Americans third goal in their 3-0 victory over Cost Rica on Thursday.
The 28-year-old - who has had 10 different clubs in 11 seasons - put on a Spiderman mask in tribute to former international team-mate Otilino Tenorio, who was killed in a car accident aged 25 in May 2005.
Tenorio was nicknamed Superman as he had a habit of putting on masks of famous comic book heros after scoring.
"I do not know of any law forbidding such a gesture," said FIFA's head of communications Markus Siegler.
"Obviously, we don't want this happening too often," he added.
FIFA do punish players who take their shirts off after scoring, with referees being instructed to book them.