South Korea defeat Togo, France held (Reuters) Updated: 2006-06-14 07:51
FRANKFURT - South Korea overcame 10-man Togo 2-1 at the World Cup in Germany
on Tuesday but former champions France extended their scoreless run at finals
when they were held 0-0 by Switzerland.
All eyes were on champions Brazil who were beginning the defense of their
title with a night match against Croatia in Berlin in which Ronaldo was playing
his 100th match for them.
France, champions on home soil eight years ago, have not scored a goal in
finals since the heady night in Paris when they beat Brazil 3-0 in the final.
Playmaker Zinedine Zidane and striker Thierry Henry could not find a way
through the Swiss defense and things could have been worse for the French had
Switzerland taken their chances.
South Korea lead Group G ahead of France and Switzerland after beating
d??butantes Togo.
Togo made a strong start on their World Cup debut despite turmoil in their
camp including a players' pay dispute which prompted their German coach Otto
Pfister to quit last week.
Pfister made a surprise return to his post the day before the Group G match
in Frankfurt and his team took a first-half lead with an impressive goal from
Mohamed Kader Coubadja.
But Togo captain Jean-Paul Yaovi Abalo Dosseh was sent off in the 53rd minute
for bringing down Park Ji-sung on the edge of the penalty area and Lee Chun-soo
curled the ball home from the resulting free kick.
Substitute Ahn Jung-hwan rifled home the winner in the 72nd minute for the
Koreans, semi-finalists four years ago.
Togo said on Tuesday they would decide within 24 hours whether to stick with
Pfister as coach.
"I don't know for the moment," the Togolese football association's
secretary-general Assogbavi Komlan told reporters when asked who would coach
Togo in their next World Cup match against Switzerland on June 19.
Komlan made clear he was not in favor of Pfister.
"I don't like Pfister," he said. "He is not a good trainer. For me, Pfister
is not the coach of Togo."
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