Good v Evil in a game of two halves

TODAY'S question: Is having Iraq and North Korea in the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers a good advert for Asian soccer? The immediate answer is almost certainly, no. Especially with Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea also competing.

The reaction from the United States, hosts of the World Cup proper, was predictably forthright during the week that FIFA finalised plans for the hosting of the tournament in Qatar from October 15-28. (Japan make up the final six, two of whom will travel to the US.) The fiery Mike Lopresti of USA Today newspaper saw the outcome as: ''Six countries, most of whom have been mad at one another and possibly always will be.'' Iraq, dubbed ''Team Saddam'' by Lopresti, qualified on goal difference after losing their final match in Chengdu against hosts China.

Iraqi press reports say nine people were killed and more than 120 injured as soccer fans in the country lived it up.

Ominously, the army newspaper Al-Qadissiya was by then preparing an editorial telling the national team: ''Your mission is part of the confrontation between Iraq and the Forces of Evil as embodied by the United States and their allies.'' The strong government and military grip on Iraqi soccer dates back to the earliest days when the country's first knockout championship was won by the delightfully named Royal Bodyguard team in 1950.

Iraq are no strangers to playing in heated political circumstances. In 1976, their Police team refused to play in the final of the Asian Club Championships against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.

But as easy as it is to dismiss Iraq as political opportunists in the 1994 World Cup campaign, the team does truly have a credible track record.

This is even more true of North Korea, the only Asian side to have got past the first round of a World Cup, thanks to a sensational 1-0 win over Italy in the 1966 tournament.

But, as Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general secretary Peter Velappan says: ''Asian football has always been about much more than what happens on the playing field.'' Velappan is confident there will be few problems despite a Baghdad broadcast warning: ''Football may be a game, but for Iraqis it is a battle.'' Both Iraq and North Korea have served lengthy bans from international soccer; Iraq for fielding over-age players to a world youth championship and North Korea for attacking a Thai referee after losing in the 1982 Asian Games soccer championships.

Velappan reports that both sides appear contrite and eager to please. One person not convinced is USA Today's Lopresti who cracked: ''Next summer we could have the mother of all match-ups.

''The USA v Iraq. Finally a soccer game that would get all America interested.'' SPORT has always attracted big corporate dollars, and Asian football, despite its shaky past, is no exception.

Hence all the tricky issues that drive sports purists mad - money in sport, corporate influence - bedevilled negotiations over the location and timing of the championships' final round in Qatar.

Although the Middle East is an important component in world budgets, AFC sponsors such as Diadora, Fuji and Sanyo specifically want to target East and Southeast Asia, which broadly lie in the same time zones.

Hence Qatar presented a problem. An evening kick-off at 7 pm would be 1 am in Japan - well outside the prime time for advertisers and viewers.

However, the Japan Football Association, mindful of the fairly torrid time the national team had in the United Arab Emirates during the second leg of their first-round matches, were still pushing for late kick-off times in the cooler temperatures of the evening.

FIFA and the AFC came to a compromise: kick-off times would range from 4 pm to 6 pm.

One thing the Qatari organising committee will be anxious to avoid is what happened to a Singaporean official involved in hosting the last World Cup qualifiers in 1989.

He was involved in a five-minute scrummage with an Iranian player, who was desperately trying to unwind a banner wrapped around his waist proclaiming support for Islamic fundamentalism.

The packed Lion City crowd enjoyed the show.

AS Japan's fabulously wealthy J-Leaque team patrons tried to work out how underdogs Kashima Antlers had snatched the first championship, the Antlers slipped to their first defeat in seven games.

Takuya Takagi gave Sanfrecce Hiroshima a 2-1 away win with an extra-time goal over the first-stage champions. The teams were tied at 1-1 with the Antlers having to play without their wig-endorsing Brazilian star Alcindo, who pulled up injured.

Grampus Eight, home to former England captain Gary Lineker, lost a tense match with JEF United whose own expensive import, World Cup star Pierre Littbarksi, scored the only goal of the match. Grampus have won only seven of 18.

The final conclusion on the Antlers' success in the first half of the season lays all credit at the door of 40-year-old Brazilian star Zico.

Transforming his unrated side was the kind of challenge Zico relished - the Flamengo striker was after all the man who had to fill Pele's number 10 shirt after his retirement.

''Zico always tells my players, 'If you play our kind of soccer, we will prevail'. They play with faith in his remarks,'' says Antlers manager Nusu Miyamoto.

Despite playing only three of the season's 18 games because of a leg injury, he helped to steer the team to a crucial first league win.

EXPATRIATE players have always been a source of controversy. Do they take more out of the game than they put in? An answer may be found in how the Japanese national team play in the World Cup qualifiers, having played through the first half of the J-League which is chock-full of the most expensive overseas talent money can buy.

Will the Japanese play better for having rubbed shoulders with the Linekers, Zicos and Littbarskis of this world? Japan and their gruff-talking Dutch coach Marius Ooft get a trial run with the finals of the Afro-Asian Nations Cup, a biennial tournament between the champion sides of the two continents.

Normally this is a two-leg match but because of their own heavy World Cup commitments, African champions Ivory Coast have opted out of hosting a second leg.

The champion of the two most populous continents will be decided in front of a roaring Japanese crowd in the Tokyo National Stadium on October 1.

JEREMY WALKER IS ON LEAVE