South American woes start in Sydney, end in Berlin

BERLIN, July 10: South America's World Cup misery began nine months ago in Sydney when Uruguay were beaten by Australia on penalties after a two-leg playoff.

That defeat, in a fixture in which South America had always taken victory for granted, left the continent with only four representatives in Germany and provided a foretaste of what was to come.

For the last week of the tournament, the South American participation was reduced to the referees as Uruguay's Jorge Larrionda took charge of a semi-final and Argentina's Horacio Elizondo the final.

The teams had all gone home by then, with Argentina and Brazil exiting in the quarter-finals despite boasting some of the world's most precocious talent.

South America did well in the group stage with three teams qualifying. Only Paraguay fell by the wayside as they lost to England and Sweden and were eliminated in two games.

Ecuador were a revelation as they beat Poland and Costa Rica but an unambitious second-round performance saw them lose 1-0 to a mediocre and perfectly beatable England side.

But the real disappointment came as Argentina lost on penalties to hosts Germany and Brazil followed them home by losing to France.

It was the first time since 1982 that the continent, which has provided the winners for nine of the 18 tournaments, failed to provide any of the semi-finalists.

Both paid for the lack of ambition of their respective coaches and significantly, the most impressive players for both sides were defenders -- Roberto Ayala of Argentina and Lucio of Brazil.

STUNNING MOVE Argentina began in style, producing a memorable performance to demolish Serbia&Montenegro 6-0.

Their second goal was also one of the tournament's best, Esteban Cambiasso providing the finishing touch to a stunning 25-pass move.

But in the quarter-final against Germany, coach Jose Pekerman let the hosts off the hook.

Leading 1-0 with 20 minutes to go, Pekerman replaced striker Hernan Crespo with defensive midfielder Cambiasso and, with the game crying out for the speed of Lionel Messi, brought on target man Julio Cruz.

Germany snatched a late equaliser and, inevitably, won on penalties.

Brazil only got into their stride in their final group game against Japan when, with his side already qualified, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira rested some of his veterans.

The world champions produced their only convincing performance to win 4-1, yet Parreira reverted to his more experienced line-up for the knockout stages.

This included full backs Cafu and Roberto Carlos, with a combined age of 69, and lumbering striker Ronaldo, whose three goals failed to hide his lack of match fitness.

Meanwhile, Robinho, the only Brazilian player who looked capable of running at defenders, went back to the bench.

The biggest letdown of all, however, was Ronaldinho, who shimmied and grinned his way through five games without ever looking like the world's best.

The world champions have often been saved by flashes of individual magic in the past and seemed to think they could score at will. Against France, they ran out of luck and inspiration.

''In the last 12 years, Brazil have always been in the final,'' said Roberto Carlos early in the tournament, reflecting the team's over-confidence. ''We're not going to lose this cup.'' How those words must haunt him now.

REUTERS

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