WORLD CUP 2002: While reluctant to glory in the misfortunes of others, German coach Rudi Voeller could be forgiven yesterday for revelling in the first bit of good news he's had in months. Would Roy Keane's departure from the World Cup weaken Ireland, he was asked.
"Of course it will," he said, trying hard, but failing, to wear the look of a saddened man.
"He's their leading player and their playmaker," said Voeller. "I don't want to comment on this because I don't know the background, all I can say is rules are rules and they have to be respected by everybody."
After losing a string of first-choice players through injury - including Sebastian Deisler, Mehmet Scholl and Jens Nowotny - and being ridiculed by the German press following the friendly defeat by Wales last week, Voeller was desperately in need of a pick-me-up.
It would appear that Keane's expulsion did the job yesterday.
Cameroon, meanwhile, were too busy recovering from their extraordinary marathon journey to Japan to worry about happenings in the Irish camp. The squad finally arrived at their World Cup base after a four-day delay caused by an alleged dispute over bonus payments and the absence of flyover permits for southeast Asia.
The squad was supposed to leave for Japan on Saturday, but their chartered plane was stranded for 48 hours in France due to "mechanical trouble".
A member of the Cameroon Football Federation, however, later revealed the delay was caused by the players' unhappiness at the non-payment of their individual World Cup bonuses (€45,734).
Their plane finally took off from Paris on Tuesday and arrived in Bangkok for an unexpected refuelling stop, after prolonged stopovers in Ethiopia and India.
By then, the plane's pilot realised he did not have permission from Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines to fly over their airspace so the plane spent seven hours in the capital before it was granted special flyover permission by the three countries.
After finally arriving, the players attempted to catch up with their sleep before playing J-League second division club Tosu in a warm-up match, winning 1-0 with a second-half goal from Samuel Eto'o.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia coach Nasser Al-Johar was busy attempting to justify his squad selection, notably the exclusion of central defender Ahmed Khalil.
"At this stage of the football game, I only need accomplished players at club level, genuinely committed to serve the national team when it matters most," he said, hinting that maybe, just maybe, all was not well between him and Khalil. And you thought it was only the Irish camp that had problems?
