Review: Emmet Malone argues that the shocks of the last month will notshift the powerbase of soccer away from Europe

Perhaps it was too much to ask of a tournament that had thrown up so many more memorable stories than unforgettable matches would finish with a classic. But then what we were treated to at Yokohama's International Stadium yesterday was a fitting final chapter to what will endure in the memory as having been a fine if not quite great World Cup.

When the Olympic Games draw to an end it is traditional for the IOC's president to compliment the hosts on having organised the best Games yet, and while those behind Korea/Japan 2002 did not quite manage to top France four years ago there was plenty to draw satisfaction from in the first World Cup to be staged in Asia.

From the very first game, when Senegal won a memorable victory over the defending champions, the competition grabbed the attention. Opening days, of course, have produced great upsets before, but the difference this time was that the victory by the Africans was just a taste of what was to come.

The success of South Korea, the continued emergence of Turkey and the United States as well, most of all, as the early demise of pre-tournament favourites France and Argentina ensured that the competition produced constant and enthralling drama, even if the games at the centre of the unfolding story were never the equal of the best we saw in 1998.

Still it will be hard to forget the dramatic night in Busan when South Korea beat Portugal, the way the Costa Ricans came so close to matching the extraordinarily open football played by Brazil at Suwon or even the heartbreak endured by Ireland against Spain in the same stadium three days later.

And then there were the stars. When Spain followed Ireland out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage Raul's name was added to long list of would-be world beaters who were obliged to watch the decisive phase of the tournament from the comfort his favourite armchair back at home.

We had expected so much from the Rauls, Zinedine Zidanes and Figos but this was a tournament when at least some of those in the established order were amongst the greatest victims.

In their places new stars like Turkey's Hasan Sas, Khalilou Fadiga of Senegal and Jung-hwan Ahn of South Korea grabbed at the chance to take a bit of the limelight, and the tournament was enriched by their emergence.

Ultimately, however, Germany and Brazil ensured that those casting a casual glance at the record books in years to come will miss a huge part of the story of 2002 when they see the names of the two countries that contested the final.

Neither was a great team, even if Brazil - in Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho - had quite the most irresistible front line of this or any recent World Cup and Germany were all of the things we have come to expect only much, much more so.

What both teams proved is that they had the mental steel and know how to endure where others fell by the wayside. And having won each of their seven games, scored 18 goals and completed their triumph with a delightful second-half performance in the final, the South Americans have established beyond doubt that they were worthy champions.

If the root of the problem for their less successful rivals really was tiredness then things seem unlikely to improve any time soon. Having secured his re-election as FIFA's president with thanks to the usual mixture of extravagant promises and unholy alliances, Sepp Blatter made it clear during the last week of the competition that the world body would stand firm in their ongoing battle with the game's biggest clubs.

That is not something that will be at all well received by the people who run the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Lazio at a time when they face huge financial uncertainty. The extent of the problems that have been revealed at newly-crowned Spanish champions Valencia gives an idea of how grave the situation for many of them has become.

Blatter, though, insists that if there is to be compromise in relation to the increasingly cluttered international fixture list then it must come from the clubs, and national associations are advised to restrict major leagues to a maximum of 16 teams and, in some cases, to abandon cup competitions. It is a far cry from what clubs who have already over-committed themselves on the basis of projected television and other commercial revenues wanted to hear.

Blatter also made it abundantly clear that FIFA will continue to run meaningless money spinners like the Confederations Cup while the organisation's new regulations, in part the result of the EU-inspired reform of the contract system, will make it harder than ever for clubs to avoid releasing their players for what an ever-expanding number of international fixtures.

FIFA's line, though, looks certain to provoke a backlash from clubs desperate to extract a greater return on their bloated wage bills and so the world body is unlikely to get it all its own way between now and the time that everybody gets together again in Germany in four years time.

A further problem for Blatter will be the need to accommodate the growing ambitions of the Africans and Asians, who continue to believe that they are under-represented in these finals tournaments.

While Oceania are set to be granted the slot left free by the new requirement that in future the champions will have to qualify in the same way as everybody else, the president of the Asian federation insisted during the build-up to yesterday's final that he feels his continent should receive five places at Germany 2006.

The Asians can, at least, point to their commercial value to FIFA - in part because of kick-off times, 60 per cent of the television audience for these finals was located here, while major corporate backers of the federation like Fuji, JVC and Toshiba are from the region.

The reality, though, is that both their claim and that of the Africans, who want at least an additional two places next by the time the tournament is due to be staged there in 2010, have been hugely weakened by the failures of China, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, South Africa and Cameroon to make it beyond the group stages of the competition.

The significance of the success enjoyed by the two host countries, much as it might have added to the tournament, will be easily played down when the Europeans and South Americans come to the negotiating table later this year and after that all that is left is the fact the Senegalese have managed to become the latest African side to reach the quarter-finals.

From an organisational point of view things have gone much better for the Asians. The four and half weeks of the tournament passed off with barely a hitch and not even a hint of the violence that marred France'98.

True, there were problems over the sale of tickets, but even they appeared to have been dealt with effectively by the time the competition moved into its second week.

For a short while it even seemed that they might be hosting something of a revolution in the game. But in the end for all its shocks, twists and turns, what their tournament has done above everything else is to confirm that football's old order has some of life left in it yet.