What were Marcelo BIELSA, Sven Göran ERIKSSON, Shaibu AMODU, and Tommy SÖDERBERG thinking on SAT 01 DEC 2001 when their respective teams were drawn to face one another at the 2002 Men's World Cup? England coach Eriksson said afterward, "I was talking to Ireland's manager, and I asked him if he wanted to change groups, and he said 'No way'." Nigeria's Amodu commented, "It is very hard to be in this killer group." Bielsa of Argentina said nothing - he wasn't there. Asked about the later stages, Sweden's co-coach Söderberg said, "No comment. The group stage will be tricky enough as it is."

NIGERIA
At their two previous World Cup appearances, Nigeria established a perfect record of moving into the second round each time. Adegboye "Festus" ONIGBINDE, hired as Nigeria's coach after Amodu was sacked in FEB 2002, promised to bring discipline back into the Super Eagles' camp, something they'd need to get through this group. But, it didn't work. Nigeria fell 1-0 to Argentina, goalkeeper Ike SHORUNMU the only thing standing between Argentina and a larger win. Their 2-1 loss to Sweden eliminated them but brought the team highlight: Julius AGHAHOWA scored on a 27th minute header, delighting the crowd with his seven-backflip celebration. Discipline may well have proven their undoing, as veteran defender Taribo WEST got into a war of words with Onigbinde over the latter's perceived mismanagement and the former's perceived insubordination.

ARGENTINA
For many football fans, the first seven days of the 2002 Men's World Cup were just a prelude to the big feature in the tournament, Argentina-England. The English population well remembered their second round meeting at France 1998, when a violent foul on Diego SIMEONE resulted in a red card for David BECKHAM. This time, the match again descended into a messy physical contest, but this time it was the Albiceleste who let their control slip away. Gabriel BATISTUTA and Simeone were both booked early. Argentina's misdeeds caught up with them just before halftime when Mauricio POCHETTINO, perhaps afraid to let Michael OWEN burn his side again, brought the young Liverpool striker down. Beckham scored on the resulting penalty, and try as the Argentinos did in the second half, they could not score.

Their draw with Sweden bounced them from the tournament, following in the ignominious footsteps of France. Argentina again could not restrain themselves; Claudio CANIGGIA was sent off just before halftime for dissent - without ever entering the match. It was a humiliating footnote to an already embarrassing implosion.

SWEDEN
A draw with England and a win over Nigeria gave Sweden a good shot at the second round, as long as they could get past Argentina. The South Americans got through the Swedish defense on numerous occasions but unleashed wild shot after wild shot. The final statistics would show 15 shot attempts by Argentina - only four on target. Meanwhile, they opened themselves up to counterattacks. In the 59th minute, Anders SVENSSON fired a free kick over the defensive wall and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Pablo CAVALLERO. Sweden conceded a penalty with only two minutes remaining, and Marcus HEDMAN deflected Ariel ORTEGA's effort only to see Hernán CRESPO score on the rebound.

The draw was sufficient to send Sweden through to a second round meeting with Senegal, one of the tournament's best matches. Sweden moved ahead after just eleven minutes, thanks to Henrik LARSSON's headed goal. The African debutantes battled back strongly and had several chances to take the lead in the second half and the overtime before Henri CAMARA eliminated the Tre Kronan with a golden goal.

ENGLAND
Injured in a match with Manchester United, England captain Beckham was at risk of missing the tournament, and his unimposing performance against Sweden only added to the murmurings. Goalkeeper David SEAMAN made six important saves for England to secure a 1-1 draw. Beckham served notice of his return in the Argentina win, and a bland goalless draw with Nigeria put England through to face Denmark. Emile HESKEY's powerful strike late in the first half concluded a three goal run by England and set up a date with Brazil.

That match saw three goals, all of which could have been prevented by more careful defending. First, Brazil's LÚCIO let the ball escape him on an attempted clearance, and Michael OWEN pounced to score in the 23rd minute. Then, on the stroke of halftime, with RONALDINHO racing into the attacking third, both Beckham and Scholes missed tackles, leaving Sol CAMPBELL all alone against two attackers, of which RIVALDO scored. In the 50th minute, Seaman could not track Ronaldinho's long chipped free kick, which slipped into the upper corner of the net. Though Ronaldinho was sent off shortly thereafter, England could not equalise.

"Unfortunately, Sweden will be unable to get past England and Argentina in a series of hotly contested matches." It was true that Sweden could get past neither England nor Argentina, drawing with both. But Argentina stumbled against England, and England stumbled against Nigeria, leaving Sweden atop the Group of Death.