World Cup Opens With Upsets, Heat

NEW YORK -- The first weekend of World Cup competition brought stunning upsets as Ireland triumphed over Italy and the heavily favored Colombian team fell to the Romanians. It was a weekend of less surprising first-round results with victories by Germany, Spain, Norway and Belgium and draws between the United States and Switzerland, and Cameroon and Sweden.Aside from a heat wave in the northeastern United States that sent fans to the hospital and had coaches worrying, the matches went off smoothly. Off the playing field, however, two tragedies Saturday marred the opening of the world's most-watched sporting event. A plane crash near Washington D.C. claimed the lives of 12 people, mostly Mexican soccer fans. And, in Northern Ireland, six pub-goers celebrating Ireland's win were gunned down by Protestant paramilitaries. Norway 1, Mexico 0. In a sweltering Washington stadium, in the kind of heat Norwegians almost never encounter, they did not wilt Sunday. Indeed, they struck the only goal in the 85th minute of their Group E game against Mexico. After Norway's Jan Age Fjortoft gained control of the ball near the penalty area, Kjetil Rekdal took it off his foot, charged past Mexico's Claudio Suarez and shot the ball diagonally into the far corner of the net. Belgium 1, Morocco 0. In Orlando, Florida, Belgium's Marc Degryse put in a header in the 11th minute of Sunday's Group F game, then the Belgians held against the Moroccans and elements. "Yes, we were seriously preoccupied with the heat problem," Belgium coach Paul Van Himst said. Sweden 2, Cameroon 2. Striker Martin Dahlin's 75th-minute goal salvaged a draw in Sunday's Group B opener against Cameroon in Pasadena, California.Dahlin's goal came after Henrik Larsson, who came in for Jesper Blomqvist in midfield 14 minutes earlier, hit the crossbar with a powerful right-foot drive. Dahlin chested the ball down and beat goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell with a left-foot shot. Roger Ljung, a defender, gave Sweden the lead with a header in the seventh minute. David Embe tied it with a controversial goal in the 31st and Francois Omam-Biyick, the other Cameroon striker, made it 2-1 early in the second half. United States 1, Switzerland 1. U.S. forward Eric Wynalda scored a magnificent free kick from 25 meters out to earn his side a fully deserved 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their Group A match on Saturday. With seconds left before halftime in the first World Cup match played indoors, Wynalda stepped up and hammered the ball over the wall into the net via the underside of the crossbar. The Swiss had taken the lead in the 39th minute with another superb free kick, Georges Bregy curling the ball over the wall and U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola from the edge of the area after Alain Sutter had been fouled. Ireland 1, Italy 0. In New York in a Saturday Group E game, Ireland's Ray Houghton scored in the 12th minute.The goal stood as the tension and heat mounted and neither team wilted. "It was like in a dream," Houghton said, "but it was no dream and we pulled it out."It was the first regulation-time victory in a World Cup for Ireland, which is making only its second appearance in the tournament. The Italians have won it three times. Romania 3, Colombia 1. In California at the Rose Bowl, Colombia fell behind early as goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba struggled, and could not catch up despite controlling the ball for most of Saturday's Group A game. Raducioiu beat two defenders to put Romania ahead after 15 minutes off Hagi's pass. Hagi made it 2-0 with a lob that soared over Cordoba. Adolfo Valencia headed in a goal for Colombia three minutes before halftime. But three minutes from the end, Hagi sent Raducioiu in free again and he moved around Cordoba to score. Germany 1, Bolivia 0. Defending champion Germany beat Bolivia in Friday's Chicago opener in a crude, rough affair marked by a devastating slip by the Bolivian goalkeeper and the expulsion of Bolivia's star striker. Say this for Germany, it did what it had to. It won the game, something no defending champ had done since 1970. "It was not that exceptional or extraordinary," said J--rgen Klinsmann, who scored the lone goal in the 61st minute. "What is important is that we won the first game."Lothar Matthaeus lofted a long pass to Thomas H?ssler. Goalkeeper Carlos Trucco dashed out but slipped as H?ssler chested the ball to a charging Klinsmann. He had an empty net to himself, and it was all Germany needed to take the Group C match. South Korea 2, Spain 2. South Korea rallied with two goals in the last five minutes Friday to earn a Group C draw with Spain and give the opening day of the World Cup a dramatic finish. Seo Jung-won, a second-half substitute, scored the tying goal on a drive from 12 yards in the final minute. It was South Korea's second draw in nine World Cup games. It has yet to win. Spain appeared to be cruising with a 2-0 lead, despite ejection of their captain, Miguel Angel Nadal, in the 26th minute. After taking the lead on goals in the 51st and 56th minutes by Julio Salinas and Juan Antonia Goikoetxea, South Korea pulled within a goal on Hong Myung-bo's score in the 85th. Then Seo brought the Korean bench running onto the field with a shot that got between Spanish keeper Santiago Canizares and the near post.  (AP, Reuters, MT)