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Germany's Vogts wants changes
German coach wants group play in 2nd round
Posted: Saturday June 27, 1998 10:59 AM
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Vogts (pointing) also would like to see more European teams in the next World Cup (AP) |
NICE, France (AP) --
German coach Berti Vogts would like to revert to the old World Cup format
of having groups in the second round, and said Europe should receive more
slots in the finals. "European soccer is the winner of this World Cup,
while Asia and Africa are the big losers," Vogts said Saturday. "Europe and
South America have confirmed their strengths." "FIFA should see how many
European teams qualify for the finals," Vogts said of the governing body of
world soccer. He said the number of European teams in the finals
should be raised from 14 to 16, half of the teams in the finals. Ten
European nations have advanced to the round of 16, along with five South
American teams and only one African -- Nigeria. Germany, one of
the top favorites plays Mexico on Monday
in Montpellier. Vogts said the new 32-team format was fine, because
it brought in some "refreshing teams." "But we should then have four
groups of four teams in the second round, with the winners going to the
semifinals," Vogts said. "Look at England-Argentina,
one of the favorites will have to go home before the quarterfinals," Vogts
said. "It could happen on a refereeing error." "Look what happened
to Morocco,
they played beautiful soccer and ended up going home because of a false
decision, perhaps because the referee wasn't at the right place," the
German coach said. Morocco beat Scotland 3-0
in its final first-round match, but ended up going home because Norway beat Brazil 2-1 on a
late controversial penalty. England and Argentina are clashing in
one of the round of 16 matches. "If you think that you will see
better and more offesive soccer in the second round because of the knockout
system, you'll be disappointed," Vogts said. "I don't think it would
be boring. You can afford to lose one game and still advance to the
semifinals and that could be very exciting," Vogts said. The World
Cup format has been changed several times, as more and more teams were
allowed into the finals. The last time the World Cup used a group
format in the second round was in 1982, with four groups of three teams and
the winners going to the semifinals. In 1974 and 1978, the second
round consisted of two groups of four teams, with the winners going to the
final. Before that, with fewer teams, two top-placed teams from four
groups would go straight into the quarterfinals. Because of the
number of teams in the first round, 32, a group format would be perfect for
the second round, Vogts said. Having groups of three teams is not so
good because one team is always idle. But with for teams, it works and you
could fit it into the same number of days," Vogts said.
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