World Cup 2002 Untold Stories: Seaman's Tears and Sven's Lost Assistant
In the first of a nostalgic series looking back at behind-the-scenes World Cup stories, we revisit the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea. The Mirror's Make Football Great Again podcast has launched a new series gearing up for this summer's biggest-ever tournament, delving into the untold moments from 2002 to 2022.
Seaman's Tears and England's Island Retreat
Drawing back the curtains early on the morning of June 21, 2002, the view from a hotel room in Shizuoka was both stunning and foreboding. Mount Fuji stood in all its sunlit majesty, looking across at the beautiful city on Japan's south coast. The clear sight of the country's most famous holy mountain meant the day would be scorching hot.
Up until that point on their route to the World Cup quarter-final, Sven-Goran Eriksson's men had played in unseasonably mild conditions—almost English weather. But the sun burned fiercely for their meeting with Brazil, with kick-off scheduled for 3.30pm. The weather did not seem ideal, yet for 45 minutes of the quarter-final, England controlled the game against a star-studded Brazilian team.
England led after Michael Owen expertly capitalised on a mistake from Lucio, the laid-back defender who typified Brazil's over-confidence. However, in added time at the end of the first half, David Beckham and Paul Scholes missed crucial tackles, allowing Rivaldo to level the score for Luiz Felipe Scolari's side.
Of Eriksson's half-time team talk, Gareth Southgate, an unused substitute, was famously reported as saying: "We needed Winston Churchill… and we got Iain Duncan-Smith." Southgate later contested the veracity of that claim, but evidence from the second half in Shizuoka gave the remark a ring of truth.
Ronaldinho's 40-yard free-kick—quite obviously intended as a cross—beat David Seaman, and even though the scorer was sent off soon after, England went out meekly. Brazil then progressed to beat Turkey in the semi-final and an uninspiring Germany in the final. While Brazil were a side full of stellar talent, England had blown their opportunity, with Seaman being more culpable than others.
Only recently, Ashley Cole claimed his England and Arsenal teammate was disrespected by members of the media in the post-match interview area. That is not the recollection of journalists present, but Seaman had been particularly uncommunicative with the media during the tournament, and naturally, sympathy was in short supply. It is a tough business.
We did not know if Seaman would come out and talk—because he hadn't for most of the tournament—but to his credit, he wanted to send a message to the supporters. "My main thing is that I just want to say sorry to the fans," said Seaman. When asked what his teammates said as they consoled him after the final whistle, he replied, "They've just been encouraging—they've been fantastic. They were telling me 'just forget it' and 'you kept us in this tournament', things like that." Then he dissolved into tears again, and the interview could not continue.
For England players, supporters, and reporters, it was a pretty dismal end to a World Cup that offered a fascinating experience but lacked the fascinating football.
Sven's Assistant Goes Missing in the Woods
Dear Sven being Sven, he always liked to take the squad—and himself—somewhere nice. Ahead of his first tournament as England boss, he decamped to Jeju, a lush, subtropical island off the coast of South Korea that is a popular honeymoon destination. The England team hotel was in beautiful seclusion, so much so that on one occasion, an unofficial search party had to be sent out for Tord Grip, Sven's number two.
Tord went out on a run through the forestry but seemingly got lost. He was a brilliant guy and part of a backroom staff that also included Ivan Carminati, an Italian fitness coach who was in high demand for interviews during the preparation camp. On the island, the main subject of England conversation was whether the second metatarsal in Beckham's left foot would be sufficiently healed for him to take a meaningful part in the competition.
It was, and he would score the winning goal from the penalty spot in England's group game against Argentina in Sapporo. Not content with one island, England transferred from Jeju to Awaji Island in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan, which would be their base for the tournament. England like their privacy at tournaments, but this was ridiculous. Journalists were based in the city of Kobe and separated from the squad by the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, which is two and a half miles long.
Relations between the press and the players had not been great at Euro 2000, and they were not brilliant at World Cup 2002. However, the victory over Argentina encouraged a feel-good factor, and the round-of-16 win over Denmark in Niigata—courtesy of first-half goals from Owen and Emile Heskey and a Thomas Sorensen own goal—was their best performance for a while. Sadly, though, it fell apart in Shizuoka, setting the stage for Brazil and Scolari.
Those who stayed on and relocated to Tokyo had a fascinating final week. Covering England, the routine was to watch 15 minutes of training—basically, the warm-up—before being jettisoned from the premises. In contrast, Scolari was happy for journalists to stand on the sidelines for the entire Brazilian session on the eve of the World Cup final. "What have I got to hide?" he smiled. "Everyone knows we are brilliant." They did not need to be brilliant in the final, with a couple of Ronaldo goals doing the job against Germany. For the English journalists in the International Stadium in Yokohama, it was hard not to think about what might have been.
