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The World Cup in Korea and Japan

© Susan Johnson-Roehr

By the time this is published, there will be only 8 more months to wait before the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea and Japan. If you're like me, you've been following World Cup play-off matches all year. Japan and Korea already know when they will be playing their first games (they are the seeded teams in group H and D, respectively), but the rest of the world is still waiting for group assignements. The final assignments will come out of a draw to be held in December 2001.

If you live in the States, you probably haven't heard anything about the World Cup, despite the fact that the U.S. finished the CONCACAF playoffs in second place (Costa Rica was first, yay Ticos!). This is really sad, because Korea and Japan have both put in a lot of time, money and effort as hosts of the 2002 World Cup finals. This is the first time the World Cup tournament has ever been hosted by two countries, and one can't help but be pleased to see Korea and Japan trying to work together to make this happen. Twenty cities, ten in each country, will host tournament matches. In Korea, you can visit Seoul, Incheon, Suwon, Daejeon, Daegu, Jeonju, Ulsan, Gwangju, Pusan, and Seogwipo as part of your World Cup pilgrimage. Most amazing about this is that the cities' are all building new stadia to support the tournament. The spectacular Seoul World Cup Stadium (seating 64,677) is scheduled to be completed in December 2001. The Daejon World Cup Stadium is closing in on completion in just a couple months. And they should be putting the finishing touches Pusan Sports Complex as I type this. Japan is making an equal effort to provide quality venues as well. If you're trapped in the United States and looking for World Cup information in a country that hates football, look no further. I've compiled a list of links for you to help you make it through the 2002 World Cup craze.

• ESPN Soccernet: World Cup 2002 ESPN does a pretty decent job at covering the playoffs. They publish timely headlines, and I used this site to follow the CONCACAF play this spring.
• CNNSI 2002 World Cup Countdown CNNSI does a decent job of covering the World Cup, although I still prefer ESPN for some reason.
• Official Website of 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Excellent site, although it's news can be a little dated. Available in English, French, Spanish, German, Korean and Japanese, this site has great pages on the host countries/cities, and on each venue.

soccer ball

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