Show mn"" rt ”"$ 'f'p9tW11("1tlq4fff11 Page 14 —The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday July 12 1998 Rothstein given a e gg of Tour de France DUBLIN Ireland (AP) — Chris Board-ma- n of Britain won Saturday's prologue of the Tour de France as the Irish start to the world’s premier cycling race was marred by d a drug scandal involving Fiance’s Festina team Boardman raced to victory on the 3 12-mi- le route through central Dublin in 6 minutes 1236 seconds more than four seconds top-rate- better than Abraham Olano of runner-u- p Festina put in die strongest team performance with three riders in the top 10 but its performance was clouded by the arrest of one of its support staff in France Willy Vfoet a Belgian masseur was arrestborder in ed Thursday oo the French-Belgisteroids vials 400 than more of of possession and the performance-enhancin- g drug EPO which is considered the cycling world's favored drug Spain France’s Laurent Jalabert the world time trial champion was third five seconds behind E Jdman Defending Tour champion Jan Ullrich of Germany finished sixth also five seconds behind It was Boardman's third victory in five yean in the Tour's prologue “I didn't expect to win” he said ”1 didn't feel very good this morning but it came The crowd helped The right on the day noise was incredible” The gentle rain so common to the Emerald Isle affected the first half of the race deterring some riders from aggressively taking the two sharpest corners early on in the speed circuit But the course had dried when Boardman — who also won the prologues of 1994 and 1997 — rolled down the starting ramp He never hesitated from the start and sped down the city's broad O'Connell Street to the finish line beyond the city's landmark General Post Office Final Continued from Page 13 attack all game trying to pene- trate on the flanks with Rivaldo Roberto Carlos Cesar Sampaio and Bebeto Or through the middle with two-tim- e player of the year Ronaldo France meanwhile might back off it assaults a bit because a game favors the truly wide-ope- n South Americans And the French will be without an champion and soccer's most powerful force and Brazil improved as it advanced through the tournament “We are peaking at the right time to win the World Cup" midfielder Rivaldo says Still it took a penalty kick shootout for the Brazilians to get here The Dutch played them even for 120 minutes and at times outplayed them Of course the Netherlands looked as strong as anyone in the field before its semifinal loss The French haven't met anyone as balanced or dangerous Not that France drew a pass to get into the final It won all three of its first-roun- d games before struggling in overto beat Paraguay time and Italy in a shootout In the semifinals Croatia scored in the first minute of the second half but Thuram came right back with a goal then got the winner In Zinedine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff the French have two reliable play makers What they have lacked is a -0 finishing touch with only defenders hitting the net since the opening round With Blanc gone they proba- bly won’t push the defenders upfield — unless they fall behind The last two World Cup finals were dull affairs with West Geron a many beating Argentina penalty kick with six minutes left in 1990 and Brazil needing a shootout to defeat Italy after a 0-- 0 tie in 1994 The last time Brazil met France in the World Cup was 12 years ago a classic offensive match with enough action in 120 min- utes to satisfy anyone 1- -0 It also ended in a shootout ' ' which France won 4--3 "We will take a similar result” Thuram says Zagallo however is extremely confident that won't happen “I've never been so sure that we’re going to win the title” he says “The green and yellow flag ! ! will fly again in Europe after 40 years The World Cup is safe in our hands with our faith and our courage” - - - Vs - Rodman standing behind Hamblen CHICAGO (AP) — When Cleveland assistant Ron Roth-stei- n got the call that the Chicago Bulls wanted to talk to him about their coaching job he figured it would be a typical interview ' Go in talk about die job talk about backgrounds and be done A-- ® with it Well not exactly The Bulls are trying to replace a coach who won six NBA titles in eight years and they're not leaving anything to chance When Roth- stein met with Bulls officials last " week the meeting lasted almost an entire afternoon Both chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Jeny Krause were involved cells It boosts the level of enabling cyclists to absorb oxygen more red-blo- od effectively One of Festina's unexpectedly strong performances came from unheralded Christophe Moreau who led for much of the race and finished fifth in 6:1732 He was competing while petitioning his positive test for steroid use at a race in June Leblanc resisted Tour director Jean-Marcalls for Festina to be restricted from competing until the facts of the case could be established “This man may have been acting on his own without the knowledge of the team so there is no question of penalizing them” Leblanc said Festina's director Bruno Roussel said he knew nothing about the problem but would find out when the Tour goes to France Monday night More than 30000 spectators lined the route to see the first Tour de France in "There were a couple of sur- ie prises along the way Rothstein told The Associated Press on Friday from Cleveland "It was and very thorough” in-de- L : The Bulls have at least five people on their short list to replace Phil Jackson who left almost three weeks ago In addition to Rothstein they are Iowa State coach Tim Floyd and cur- ! APpholo Chris Boardman of England ridaa to victoiy In toe prologue of the Tour do Franca Saturday In Dubfln Ireland rent NBA assistants Rick Carlisle (Indiana) Paul Silas (Charlotte) and Scott Skiles (Phoenix) Skiles was scheduled to inter view today Forget the short list Dennis Rodman told the Chicago Tribune The players want current Bulls assistant Frank Hamblen who said earlier this week that he is not and never was a candidate Hamblen a coaching veteran has been a Chicago assistant 27-ye- ar the past two seasons Rodman said be spoke with Michael Ionian earlier this week and they agreed Hamblen is the right man' : "He’s been there" Rodman told the Tribune for a story in today's editions “He knows what's going on He knows what we do He knows us and we know him I think everybody would be comfortable with that" Jordan Rodman and Scottie Pippen all are free agents Who the Bulls hire could play a large role in determining whether any or all of the three return “Urn Floyd? That's a joke” Rodman said "We really don't need a coach but if we have to have one Frank would be the best candidate If he’s not a candidate he should be He should be the man" Croatia takes home third place PARIS (AP) — It’s been a wonderful World Cup for Croatia capped by Saturday night’s 2-- 1 victory over the Netherlands for third place Riding a brilliant counterattack and the acrobatics of goa- lkeeper Drazen Ladic the nation in its first world soccer championship had a memorable tournament After their best defender Laurent upsetting the Dutch star striker Blanc who was suspended for Davor Suker — the tournament's shoving a Croat in the face in the leading scorer with six goals — semifinals ran around Parc des Princes with a Croatian flag draped on his “It is my personal catastrophe shoulders but if the red card had conHe and his teammates arms tributed to France not reaching the final I would never have locked jumped up and down on been able to forgive myself" the victory stand They eariied their moment of glory as the most vVi The French can be forgiven if iubcfeskAif tiUtfide? 'at France 9$ with the best finish by a newcomthey are nervous Sunday They've never been this far they are facing the defending R '&! eight-year-o- ld er since Portugal was third in 1966 Defending champion Brazil plays host France on Sunday for the championship That’s a game the Dutch felt they belong in But after playing tournament favorite Brazil evenly for 120 minutes in the semifinals they fell in a shootout And they fizzled in the consolation match The Netherlands played its usual attacking style only to be foiled throughout by Ladic's saves In a span of a minute late in the game he made spectacular saves on Patrick Kluivert and Clarence Secdorf to protect the lead The Frenchmen in the sellout crowd booed Slaven Bilic every time he touched the ball The Croatian defender was pushed in '1 As die face by French defender Laurent Blanc in the semifinals and Blanc was ejected The fans blame Bilic who added some theatrics to the push But Bilic played an outstanding game seeming to enjoy the attention Both teams gave the fans an entertaining match The Dutch pushed forward at every opportu- nity and the Croats displayed g their superb counter-attackin- drills On both first-ha- lf goals Croatia used quick breaks Suker gave a perfect through' pass to Robert Jami in the'l3th nunute and Jarnf faked a ddfttafer"befotf TlhdinJ Robert Prosinecki His right-footshot from 10 yards found the net ed The Netherlands tied it on a solo move by Boudewijn Zenden nine minutes later Zenden scooted from right wing to midfield and stopped on a dune to send a bullet home off goalkeeper Ladic's hands Ladic made two sliding kick saves on Kluivert before Suker made it 2-- 1 He took a pass from playmaker Zvonimir Boban for a shot through the legs of defender Jaap Siam and into the far corner Totally fooled goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar sat on the grass and could only shrug as the Croats celebrated in the 36th minute left-foot- ed - 20-ya- rd vS Dennis Bergkamp of th Netherlands geta in s APphoto a shot as Croatia’s Igor Stimac attempts to block Ronaldo’s final chance Japan So Korea Brazil’s standout to host 2002 Cup needs to shine in today's Cup final OZOIR-LA-FERRIER- PARIS (AP) — Sake instead of champagne Kimchi in place of crepes Goodbye Eiffel E France (AP) — Ronaldo has one game left to make history The Tower hello DMZ The next World Cup will be as different from the edition that ends Sunday as East from West — the places it's held the cul- world's best player knows he hasn't made it yet “The moment is coming" the Brazilian said on the eve of Sun- tures involved the way the teams are picked even the day's World Cup final with France “One more and we will make history It is our great challenge" It also is a personal challenge for Ronaldo Twice voted FIFA player of the Year the 21 -- year-old striker has yet to produce the great things expected of him in the Cup Sure he leads Brazil's scorers with four goals in six games But three teammates have three goals each and Ronaldo has not been the dominant force many predicted Asked to name the key players in Brazil’s campaign coach Mario Zagallo cited AMair Cesar Sampaio Cafu Rivaldo and Dunga Not Ronaldo But Zagallo simply holds Ronaldo to a higher standard He knows the Inter Milan striker can do better “Ronaldo is rising in production every game” he said “I am sure the final will be Ronaldo's” Zagallo has pushed Ronaldo to nature of the host Two countries not one will stage the 17th world champi- onship of soccer in 2002 and they're not exactly bosom buddies Japan and South Korea the APpholo Brazil star Ronaldo hasn't quits Rvsd up to high expectations pul on him prior to the start of World Cup competition In Brazil's semifinal against the Netherlands Ronaldo was invisible for much rtf the first half then awoke in the second to seme n goal and torment the Dutch defense It’s a pattern that has recurred throughout the Cup The explanations offered for his bot-and-c- play range from Barely five years ago soccer's superstar was just another kid from the poor north side of Rio de Janeiro trying to make a local team How life has changed "Every day people ask me economic boom and are now going through hard times were chosen to share the World Cup in a decision born of soccer pot itics and global marketing FIFA soccer's international federation made the unprece- dented choice of because it didn't want to upset either nation and their consumers as soccer seeks to spread from its traditional strongholds in Europe and Latin America Officials have made it clear that this is a e alternative to the co-hos- if I want to be the best if I will be the high scorer what I think about being constantly on maga- tendinitis in his knee to an zine covers if all this scares me” overdeveloped muscle to excess he said "Nothing scares me I weight Ronaldo denies them alL "Because I won two trophies twin turbines that drove Asia's never was afraid of anything” But if soccer has changed his life Ronaldo says he's still the simple youngster from Bento people always expect me to resolve everything’ he said “But nobody wins anything Ribeiro be more mobile and shake the alone The responsibility of help"Nothing has changed in my double coverage he routinely ing Brazil to be is head Things happen and I keep champion draws But Ronaldo doesn't mine but also the team’s” overcoming obstacles It's like always follow the coach's advice It's not easy being Ronaldo dial everywhere I go” he said ts deep-pock- et one-tim- one-count- ry tradition Japan and South Korea break tradition too because neither is a soccer power unlike France which invented the World Cup in the 1920s The Koreans played in their fifth World Cup this summer while Japan made its debut Both were eliminated in the first round although they ihowed signs of better dungs to come "The only difference is that we lack experience" said Hong Myung-b- o a South Korean defender “Of course the level of football in Asia is still inferior to that in Europe" Because they are hosts Japan and South Korea automatically are in the tournament That puts a strain oo the field which will stay at the 32 teams it expanded to in France With the winner of Sunday's championship game also guaranteed a spot just 29 spots win be open to almost 200 nations who must go through continental qualifying tourna- - That's where another big difference will probably appear Emerging soccer nations are demanding more spots in the field which is dominated by Europe (15 berths) South America and Africa (five apiece) The South Pacific region which includes Australia and New Zealand is d eyeing a guar-otee- berth rather than having to compete in a wild-cai- d qualification There’s a proposal to hold spots open for nations who have never played in the World Chp k M |