Luciano Pavarotti sang at the 1990 World Cup final draw in Rome. Photo by Michael Lewis
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The eyes of the world will be on this most southern city of all of Africa come Friday when the World Cup draw is held.
Fans of 32 countries will hold their collective breaths when soccer celebrities pick balls out of brandy snifters at the ceremonies at noon ET Friday (ESPN).
While these moments are the most important part of draws, they are not necessarily the most memorable moments. Here is one writer's unforgettable (preliminary and final) draw memories pre- and during the draw (in chronological order):
1986 final draw
Before the event became really, really big, this draw was probably the last "non-glamorous" one. It was staged inside the Televisa complex in Mexico City in December, 1985. It was scheduled for noon, but journalists were advised to get there early to get a seat. The first media bus left at 9 a.m. and Grahame Jones of the Los Angeles Times and I hopped on it. We wound up getting seats in the balcony at 10:30 a.m. It mean an hour and a half wait, but at least we got seats. Late-arriving journalists were forced to watch it from a television in the studio. Imagine going half-way around the world and not being in the same room. Ouch!
England manager Bobby Robson, who reportedly said earlier in the week that he did not want his team to play in Monterrey, said what a lovely city it was after the English was placed there. In fact, he was so elated that he almost broke his neck trying to walk down the fake steps of an Azteca temple that was the back drop for the draw.
This was my very first sighting of Bora Milutinovic, who started his incredible run of coaching countries in five consecutive World Cups. He was telling anyone who was willing to listen that his group -- Group B with Belgium, Paraguay and Iraq -- wasn't as easy as some people thought. "The group presents some difficulty," Bora said. "We've got to play well. Belgium will be difficult. Paraguay will be difficult . . .}"
In a feat that probably would be difficult to duplicate in these security-minded times, former Cosmos president Clive Toye managed to draw the draw without any official accreditation. So, why was Toye at the draw? "Trying to discuss various things which may prove to the benefit of American soccer," he said.
1990 final draw
In what was going to become a tradition of press conferences being late and delayed, some 200 members of the international media were kept waiting for two hours for FIFA to announce the six seeds for Italia '90 in Rome in December, 1989. The reason for the tardiness? West German officials argued in vain they deserved to be seeded in Verona rather than Milan. "The Italians stated to us unequivocally that we would be seeded in Verona," German coach Franz Beckenbauer said. "It is a decision that denotes incompetence."
In a landmark decisions that helped change the landscape of how soccer would be televised in the U.S., the FIFA executive committee voided U.S. Soccer's agreement with NBC and SportsChannel America for the rights to the 1994 World Cup. "It is not that FIFA disapproves of NBC," said Sepp Blatter, then FIFA secretary general (before he became president). "But we feel that all the United States networks must be invited to bid for the television rights."
During the draw, Argentine Football Federation president Julio Grondona was involved in some laughs about Diego Maradona. When Grondona brought the World Cup trophy onto the stage, emcee Pippo Baudo mistakenly introduced him as "Julio Maradona." Really? Hmmm. Maybe that's why Maradona is still allowed to coach the team during 2010 qualifying.
Among the entertainers and celebrities at the draw were Sophia Loren and tenor legend Luciano Pavarotti, who would later start a tradition at the end of World Cups by signing with the Three Tenors.
1994 preliminary draw
Before FIFA put its foot down after a bidding process that got out of hand between South Korea and Japan for the 2002 World Cup, countries held parties for the media, trying to woo us. Like we had some pull with the FIFA executive committee. Yeah, right.
Well, Morocco held a reception at the Plaza Hotel in its bid for the 1998 World Cup at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in December, 1991. The African country became the first Third World nation to win a group at a World Cup (Mexico in 1986) and finished second in the 1994 World Cup bidding sweepstakes. FIFA said at the time that Morocco had only two world-class stadiums. In 1991, Moroccan officials said they had as many as 14. "Objectively, we are the best," Morocco minister of sport Abdellatif Semlali said. "We are better than France or Switzerland." Of course, we all know what happened. The executive committee went with France.
In what has become a tradition at just about every World Cup draw -- there was a Bora sighting at the New York Hilton. Milutinovic was supposed to be the guest of honor at an American Airlines reception. He tried to get through a sea of humanity and well-wishers in the lobby and wound up a half-hour late.
The preliminary draw -- at the Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden -- had a number of soccer personalities, past and present -- U.S. international goalkeeper Tony Meola, Bora, Beckenbauer, U.S. women stars Michelle Akers and Shannon Higgins and a couple of guys named Pele. One Pele the world already knew. The other? His name was Abedi Pele. He was born in Ghana and at the time he starred for Olympique Marseille (France). He had a game the night prior, but took the Concorde (remember that plane) over for the draw. While the two Peles were on the stage, the older of the two -- you know, that guy from Santos said, "I just want you to understand that he is not my son," indirectly alluding to a paternity suit he was involved in in his native Brazil at the time.
1994 final draw
On Friday, Pele was honored as the only unanimous selection of an all-time World Cup team. Two days later on Sunday, Dec. 19, 1993, he was persona non grata at soccer's biggest event of the year -- the final draw in Las Vegas. Banning the world's most popular player and the only recognizable name to the American casual sports fan was a public relations blunder in the worst sense. Blame it on the hubris of then FIFA president Dr. Joao Havelange.
Havelange's son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, president of the Brazil Soccer Confederation, had sued Pele for defamation of character. Pele charged that a television group with which he is affiliated outbid a rival by $1 million for rights to Brazilian matches, but was not award the contract because his ground failed to pay a bribe to Teixeira. Pele handled himself with the class and dignity that has distinguished him on and off the field. "I want everyone to know that I have nothing against Joao Havelange or FIFA," he said. "He is my idol since 1958. He encouraged me, sent a lot of messages to me. That is what I want everyone to understand. I don't think this is a FIFA issue. I think this is a personal message from Havelange. This doesn't change anything. This is a personal thing. I was invited and dis-invited."
At the draw at Caesar's Palace, Robin Williams did his best, single handedly, literally, to steal the show and liven up the dour event. He called Blatter, "Bladder." He then put a white surgical glove on his right hand. He commented about the big, colorful, electronic board that listed the groups and the 24 teams. "Look! The world's largest Keno board," he said.
1998 preliminary draw
There would be no free lunches this time for the U.S. in WC qualifying. This time the Americans would have to reach France '98 the old-fashioned way: They would have to earn it, after getting an automatic bid by being the hosts of USA '94. "The free ride is over," U.S. Soccer executive director Hank Steinbrecher said. "We have an indication that it will be difficult" For the first time, the U.S. task of getting players for the matches was going to be difficult. A number of key performers -- goalkeepers Kasey Keller and Juergen Sommers, midfielders Claudio Reyna and Thomas Dooley and forward Earnie Stewart, among others, played in Europe. This was before FIFA mandated certain dates for players to be allowed to prepare for qualifiers. "Steve's (Sampson, U.S. coach) going to have to make some tough decisions," said U.S. defender Alexi Lalas, who participated in the draw in Paris in December, 1995 "I doubt pro clubs are going to release players for 16 matches. He's going to have to pick and choose the important ones. It's so important for us to qualify for the next World Cup or '94 will be a brief, shining moment. I didn't realize how ridiculous our region is until I saw the other groups. They make some sense. Our process is so complicated that it's impossible to understand."
For many people, it was a chore to be at the draw because there was a transit strike in Paris in December, 1995. In other words, it was difficult to get around because of the overflow of traffic and the lack of empty taxis. For me personally, I managed to find a cab in time to get to the airport and take a plane to London (I was going to take the Chunnel across the English Channel, but workers for that were on strike as well. Why go to England? Well, to me at the draw for Euro 96 in Birmingham. Heck, I was in the neighborhood, globally speaking. And there were no rail strikes in the United Kingdom, so the train ride up north was uneventful.
1998 final draw
Controversy! Instead of determining the seeds and four tiers using a formula based on how countries have fared in the past three World Cups, FIFA decided to determine things geographically. So eight of the nine remaining European teams were placed together in one group, teams from CONCACAF and Africa in another; the ninth European team would become the first team picked in the South America/Asia group, and the fourth group was comprised of the eight seeded teams. England was not very happy. "The only thing that's strange and needs to tbe adjusted is these seeds and who have come through the backdoor of the playoffs, England coach Glenn Hoddle said, referring to Italy, which finished second in its European group to the English, but got seeded over his team. Blatter, a master at putting a spin on things, tried to do so on this one. "It is not how important where you are in the group, but how prepared you are to win," he said.
The draw could not have finished any worse for the U.S., not with Germany, Yugoslavia and Iran in its group for France '98. A generation prior, the U.S. and Iran collided on another playing field -- the Iranian hostage crissi, which started in 1979 and ended in early 1981. They say politics and sports don't mix, but U.S. did have a history. Despite being a political football, the Iranians tried to downplay it. "The meaning of FIFA is peace and unity," said Dariush Mostafavi, the president of the Iranian Soccer Federation. "I will not go into the political situation. The main thing is fair play. We are always peaceful. I think we are better than the U.S. He should have known something about the U.S. He received a graduate degree in engineering at the University of Texas after playing for Iran in the 1964 Olympics and the 1968 Asian Games. "I know the United States. I know they don't take this soccer seriously." There was the possibility of added intrigue. Milutinovic, who coached the U.S. at the 1994 World Cup and was sacked as Mexico coach just prior to the draw in Marseille, France in December, 1997, was being recruited by the Iranian Soccer Federation to replace Brazilian Vadir Vieira, the team's second coach. Vieira's bosses want a coach with a higher profile to lead the team. It didn't work out as Bora decided to coach Nigeria in the cup.
Even though he had no team to coach at the time, then MetroStars coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who was going to coach in the world all-star game in Marseille since he had directed Brazil to the 1994 crown, was the center of many rumors. Would he be heading for Saudi Arabia to coach the national side at France '98? "They have been more aggressive," said Parreira, who also had been approached by Nigeria. "I've been happy with the MetroStars. If I do get an offer, I would want to talk to Charlie [Stillitano, the team general manager] first." Parreira did take the job for $3 million, but was fired after two successive group losses -- before he had an opportunity to direct the third and final first-round match.
And oh yes, Havelange's feud with Pele continued as the Black Pearl was not allowed to participate for the second consecutive draw.
2002 preliminary draw
How convoluted was the CONCACAF qualifying tournament? Even FIFA secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen made fun of it. "Just sit back and relax, he told the audience in Tokyo, Japan in December, 1999 and millions worldwide watching on TV. "Just look at this as a geography lesson for some of the most attractive nations. v. . . I am aware you might now know what's going on, but I have a rough idea."
After the draw, where was everyone from the U.S. in the mixed zone.? U.S. Soccer's three-man contingent -- president Dr. Bob Contiguglia, general secretary Hank Steinbrecher and chief operating officer Thomas King -- attended the draw, but were nowhere to be found. But there was England coach Kevin Keegan talking to the media. Ditto for Italian coach Dino Zoff, German coach Eric Ribbeck, Scotland coach Craig Brown and Japan coach Philippe Troussier. The CONCACAF podium was put to good use -- by a player and coach -- with ties to a pair of countries in the confederation. Former Mexican international and Real Madrid star Hugo Sanchez, who someday would coach Mexico, talked about his country's aspirations about reaching South Korea and Japan. "In Mexico, we have a problem," he said. "We are in one place where football is not too hard. There are many teams, but no hard teams. . . . I would like to play in Europe or South America because Mexico maybe goes up [in quality]. But Mexico stays in CONCACAF, where we are the teachers of the other teams. Now the distance [in quality] between Mexico and Canada and the United States is not so long. That's not good for us. We need a teacher and we don't have teachers near us." Ironically, Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard wound up using the CONCACAF area for his interviews -- in English, no less. Rijkaard was born in Surinam, a CONCACAF country, but played for the Netherlands. He picked Surinam out of one of the bowls during the draw.
When seeded Romania was picked for European Group 8, along with Italy, members of the audience and the Italian media cheered, obviously relieved they would not have to face Germany.
2002 final draw
The biggest surprise of the pre-draw events was the announcement that the defending champion of the 2002 World Cup would not receive an automatic berth in the 2006 tournament. Blatter called it "an historic decision" in Pusan, South Korea on Nov. 30, 2005. Countries that have automatically qualified don't get much actual competition in the four-year span during world Cups, except for European, which has the quadrennial Euro Championship. "This will make them better prepared and put them in the same calendar as other nations," Blatter said.
Zen-Ruffinen still was running things at the draw and he still had his sense of humor to remind the audience at the convention center that the draw was "a very complicated" process. "We have very good news tonight," he said. "It's worse than ever." Spain was the first team draw and it was assigned as the top seed to B1 in Korea. When England was placed in the Argentine group (which already has Sweden), a loud gasp and applause emanated from the crowd. By the time Nigeria had been added to the terrible trio, Group F immediately was acclaimed as this World Cup's Group of Death. "I must confess, it is hard to be here in this killer zone," Nigeria coach Amodu Shaibu said. "we will be going back to the drawing board and start proper training for this zone of death."
2006 preliminary draw
At one point, three Americans were coaching CONCACAF teams during the 2006 qualifying for Germany -- Steve Sampson (Costa Rica), Bora Milutinovic (Honduras) and Fernando Clavijo (Haiti), and they all met up at the preliminary draw in Frankfurt, Germany in December, 2003. This sportswriter called them "The Three Amigos." Only Costa Rica managed to survive to reach the World Cup, but by then Sampson had been bounced as coach.
2006 final draw
During a pre-draw meeting with American media in Leipzig, Germany in December, 2005, U.S. coach Bruce Arena figured that he would waste time and energy worrying about how the U.S. will fare at Friday's World Cup draw. Arena admitted on Thursday that he hadn’t looked at any or the permutations, whether it be best-case or worst-case scenario. "I haven't spent two minutes worrying about it," he said. "I haven't examined the field because it's a waste of time." But Arena welcomed the draw to give his team, players and program and impetus, since the Americans haven't played a meaningful game more than three months. It goes all the way back to the U.S.'s 2-0 victory over Mexico that clinched a WC berth in Columbus, Ohio on Sept. 3. "There has been very little motivation on our part," he said. "It gets us motivated. We can begin the process of getting ready for the World Cup." If he had his way, Arena would rather play his first game several days into the tournament. "You get more time to prepare," he said. "You get to understand the flow of the tournament, what's happening, how the referees are calling the games. Anything that's going on you get a little feel for it when you're playing a little later. "I hope we start a little bit later than early. "However, having said that, I probably put the jinx on me. We'll probably get the opening game." Asked if he would like to play a top-seeded team such as Brazil early on because favorites traditionally are slow starters in the World Cup, Arena jokingly looked up to the heavens and put his hands together as though he was praying. "I'd love to play Brazil first," he said with a smile on his face. The reporters erupted into laughter. "It'd rather play them in the final," he added. Arena never got close to that opportunity as the U.S. went three and out.
German soccer leagues were hit with fan violence a week prior to the draw, yet German World Cup organizing committee president Franz Beckenbauer didn't think it would hurt the World Cup. Stadium security concerns grabbed headlines on Monday after fans interrupted a Second Division match in Dresden, firing flares and throwing other objects onto the field. Two players were hit by objects at Bundesliga matches the previous Saturday. Beckenbauer felt these problems were more for the German league than the World Cup. "We have to watch these matters. It is possible that the Bundesliga needs to step up security at some games," he said. "As soon as a door starts squeaking, people blame it on the World Cup. People are beginning to attribute this behavior to the World Cup. I don't see a link to it."
A familiar face helped determine the United States' fate at the draw: former MetroStars defender-midfielder Lothar Matthaeus. Matthaeus, who played with the MetroStars in a controversial 2000 season, picked teams from Pot Four -- where the U.S. and the CONCACAF countries are along with the Asian sides. "I love to influence football and soccer in any part of the world," Matthaeus said. MetroStars fans might remember Matthaeus' outspoken and controversial ways in 2000. In contrast, Matthaeus was quite diplomatic when he spoke about the U.S. during a press conference promoting the unveiling of Gillette's young player award. Matthaeus, who coached the Hungarian national team at the time, was the spokesman for the award. "It doesn't matter what ball I pick," he said. "I would be delighted -- since I played football in the U.S. -- if the U.S. had a tournament as successful as they had in 2002. It would give U.S. football some big stimulus." But then came what sounded like a back-handed compliment. "You have big players in the U.S.," he said. "They could practice a little more and . . . and try to get the focus away from other sports. It would be beneficial to the U.S. team."
