World Cup News and Notes: Security a work in progress at World Cup venue
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Someone walks through a metal detector and the buzzer sounds. Smiling guards wave him forward without making him empty his pockets or even explain why the alarm might have gone off.
That scene, unthinkable at an airport terminal, has been repeated many times at several stadiums in the first days of the World Cup. With the attention of billions of soccer fans, the monthlong event hosted by South Africa could be a tempting target for terrorists.
The laid-back security treatment at stadiums and the main media center appears to be reserved mostly for credentialed visitors such as journalists and VIPs. Bag searches are often cursory or nonexistent, and credentials are often not closely examined.
Horst Schmidt, a senior FIFA security expert who is an adviser to the World Cup organizers, expressed confidence that regular fans were being rigorously screened, but said it was possible that people with credentials were treated with more deference.
"Maybe it's more relaxed," he said. "But there are strict orders... They checked my accreditation. They looked into my face to compare with the photograph."
Thus far, no serious security problems have been reported at the venues during matches — fans have been exuberant and mostly well-behaved. Police say they are pleased, and FIFA — while acknowledging widespread inexperience among the venue screeners — is confident there will be steady improvement as the tournament progresses.
"This was the first time they were facing this amount of people getting in," Schmidt said. "It takes some time to make them aware and familiar with the situation."
Nevertheless, in a post-9/11 era when high security is the norm — and in a time when assassins posing as journalists have succeeded in killing public figures — security is visibly more porous than at other modern multinational events, including recent Olympic Games.
Journalists with The Associated Press and other organizations have repeatedly encountered lax security.
One AP editor has set off metal detectors several times without so much as a bag check. Another who misplaced his accrediation credential — worn conspicuously around the neck by all journalists — got into the media center without even being asked to show it. A photographer entering the Port Elizabeth stadium said guards barely glanced at the gear in her case, which included cables and radio transmitters.
At the stadium in Durban, an AP reporter wandered by mistake into the supposedly off-limits presidential section, observing crisp white tablecloths and wine glasses at the ready, but unquestioned by private security guards who were there.
Cathal Kelly, a Toronto Star columnist, depicted security for the U.S.-England match Saturday in Rustenburg as "a smiling shambles."
Indeed, many of the reporters who noted security lapses have commended the security workers for their cheerfulness. That's a sharp contrast to the grim-faced screeners who have abounded at some past Olympics and World Cups.
Routinely at those events, credentials were electronically scanned every time one entered an official venue, while at this World Cup there's no such scanning. At the Beijing Olympics and to a lesser extent at the Vancouver Games, reporters' bags were often searched thoroughly — here, to date, that's been relatively rare.
The local organizing committee has primary responsibility for conditions inside the stadiums. Its spokesman, Rich Mkhondo, said the committee was unaware of any major problems with venue security, and his office referred detailed questions to the South African Police Services.
"We are extremely satisfied that our operations are running as planned," said Vishnu Naidoo, a police spokesman. "Much credit must be given to the fans for their exemplary behavior."
Schmidt said FIFA had been satisfied with the training provided to the security workers, who were hired by private companies. But he said there's no substitute for game-day conditions.
"You can train for this theoretically," he said. "But you cannot have the experience without being in the stadium. If people have no experience, it takes some time."
Schmidt said he was pleased that the screeners' friendliness had been noted.
"Yes, we have rules," he said. "But there should always be a human touch ... not just people being so strict and saying only no."
Schmidt was asked if one factor in the security arrangements might be related to South Africa's past as a racially segregated land of white-minority rule. Would some members of the mostly black security contingent tend to avoid confrontations with whites entering the venues?
"I remember discussions after the Confederations Cup (held in South Africa last year) about whether people have a problem saying no," Schmidt said. "But I think it has changed. They have been well-trained. They can be strict if necessary."
There were signs that security was tightening as the tournament proceeded. One reporter who observed casual screening of journalists at Friday's opening South Africa-Mexico match said security was tighter the next day at the Argentina-Nigeria match — with screeners checking bags and using hand-held metal detectors.
For the highly anticipated U.S.-England match Saturday evening, security around the stadium in Rustenburg seemed to tighten as the day progressed.
One reporter said he entered the venue without being scanned or body-checked, even though he was carrying bulky outerwear over his arm that could have concealed dangerous items.
Later in the day, reporters were checked with hand-held metal detectors, and asked to account for any items that triggered a beep.
Security staff operating an X-ray scanner specifically ordered a cameraman entering the Rustenburg venue not to put his bulky TV camera and tripod through the machine. Asked about that, a guard replied, "Guns have to go through the machines, but not the cameras."
For fans in Rustenburg, it was a different story. Those taking buses to the venue had to show their tickets to board, and some had to wait an hour in lines leading through metal detectors at the entry gates.
South African police had received no substantive complaints about lax security, said Naidoo, the police spokesman. "On the contrary, only praises are forthcoming," he said.
He said venue security personnel had been instructed to be vigilant even when dealing with accredited people, making sure they passed through metal detectors and checking them thoroughly if an alarm was sounded.
"If we have a problem with the private security, then we as the joint security forces will step in and take over security at the stadium," he said.
Outside the venues, security has been a constant concern for many World Cup participants, and several foreign journalists have been robbed of their money and gear.
Most teams in the tournament — and some media organizations — have their own security personnel, and there has been tight, effective security at many of the teams' training sites. So far, no team official or star player has publicly conveyed any unease with security arrangements.
Table Mountain claims World Cup visitor
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The death of a Texas teenager on Table Mountain has South African officials warning tourists they need to understand the risks that go with exploring their nation's natural wonders.
One of Cape Town's main tourist attractions, Table Mountain provides a spectacular backdrop for the best of Africa's beachfronts.
Yet the steep, wet paths cut through this rainforest show how close the wild really is. Fifteen people died on the mountain last year and nine already this year.
In the latest case, an unidentified Texan teen vacationing with his family for the World Cup fell to his death Saturday while hiking down the mountain.
Ranger Trevor Solomons said he got the first call of an emergency at a little after 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, but by the time he reached the scene it was already too late.
The 14-year-old American was lying in shallow water amid rust-colored rocks at a bottom of a 35-foot crevice three-quarters of the way up the mountain.
"He was already gone. There was nothing further that we could do," he said, standing next to a waterfall at the scene.
"It looked like he was actually leaning to look a little further down on to the waterfall and then he lost his balance," said Solomons, the head of security for South Africa's National Biodiversity Institute.
He warned all World Cup visitors to take heed that nature is more fearsome here than photos and nature documentaries make it out to be. "It is just a sign that says it can be dangerous in Skeleton Gorge" where the accident occurred, Solomons said. "The same (in) national parks where there are animals."
Police spokesman Billy Jones said the teen, who was not identified, his parents and a sibling had taken a cable car to the top of the 3,563-foot (1,086-meter) landmark. They then walked down along a known but dangerous route.
"Please take note that it is a DIFFICULT and POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS climb, particularly in wet weather," a sign says. Underneath it were two skull-and-bones signs to make it perfectly clear.
Yet every year, people will not be stopped, Solomons said.
On Sunday, details of the accident had not been made public.
"We have been in touch with the family throughout," U.S. Consulate spokesman Nathan Holt said. "We provided assistance. We extend our deepest condolences to the family. We thank South African authorities for all their assistance."
Two officials, who both requested anonymity because the information has not been released, said the family is from Houston.
One day after the accident, many tourists at Table Mountain were oblivious to the tragedy that had happened there 24 hours earlier.
Capetonian Gideon Malherbe has been walking the Table Mountain trails for 55 of his 65 years and still is stunned how easily some of the 4.3 million visitors a year take risks.
"There were two young Americans going up there and that was about 2:50 in the afternoon and planning to go all the way up to the top of Table Mountain. And I told them the cable car may not be operating when they get there because it is a cloudy day. But they just carried on up."
"There are danger signs all over" he said. "You just have to follow the rules."
-- Raf Casert
Afrikaners embrace football during World Cup
HEIDELBERG, South Africa (AP) — With the World Cup in full swing in South Africa, many rugby-obsessed Afrikaners are embracing football like never before.
But because rugby is so deeply rooted in the Afrikaner culture, its pre-eminent status will surely be restored after the world's most popular football tournament ends on July 11 at Soccer City.
"I just know more about rugby so I would naturally rather watch a rugby match," said Zanele Smit, an 18-year-old student in Heidelberg, a small town of mostly Dutch-descended Afrikaners near Johannesburg. "But I am feeling it. The spirit of the people and the vuvuzelas that the World Cup brought are truly brightening up my days."
When South Africa won the bid to host the World Cup in 2004, many Afrikaners didn't care. But as the tournament drew closer, more and more South African flags started to pop up on Afrikaner-owned cars and people even started wearing the Bafana Bafana shirt.
"The fact that South Africa is hosting the World Cup has increased my interest in football," said Francois de Kock, a 20-year-old law student. "Usually, I could not really be bothered if the United States and England played against each other as Germany is my team. But since the World Cup is being hosted in South Africa, I find myself watching every match."
The World Cup opened on Friday at Soccer City, a rebuilt stadium closer to the black township of Soweto than downtown Johannesburg.
Soccer has always been more popular among the majority black population, but it was former president Nelson Mandela that is credited by many for making South Africa a multiracial country when he attended the 1995 Rugby World Cup final at Ellis Park and congratulated former captain Francois Pienaar while wearing a green Springboks shirt.
That win opened a new era for South African sport, with the expectation that whites and blacks would participate in and support different sports together.
It's certainly working for the World Cup.
"I definitely care more about football with the World Cup here in South Africa," said Jaco Swartz, a 33-year-old lawyer. "I would rather watch rugby than soccer, especially if it's the Springboks playing. But I'm proud of Bafana and I will keep supporting them even after the World Cup is over."
Since the end of apartheid and the Afrikaner-led National Party in 1994, when international sanctions against South Africa's sports teams were lifted, the country appeared to be divided among racial lines, with most white people choosing rugby. But interest in South African football is growing among Afrikaners.
"I would rather watch football than rugby if I had to choose," said Anneke Gouws, a teacher from Heidelberg. "I am definitely more aware of what is going on in football with the start of the World Cup in South Africa."
After their opening match, a 1-1 draw with Mexico, Bafana Bafana — as the national team is known — still have a good chance to advance to the knockout round. And many Afrikaners have even been seen blowing on their vuvuzelas — the loud plastic trumpets that have become a symbol of the World Cup.
But the national football team will be hard-pressed to live up to the standards of the Springboks, who won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and 2007.
"The Springboks perform much better than Bafana Bafana internationally," De Kock said. "Rugby is a much more exiting game as there are more goals scored regularly."
Whether the sudden Afrikaner interest in football will live on remains to be seen, but it's already not looking too good.
"My interest in football has not increased at all," said Ernst Wolfaardt, a retired Heidelberg resident out doing his shopping at a local supermarket. "I will always rather watch the rugby."
-- Mia Snyman
Strong ratings for Cup, even with vuvuzelas
NEW YORK (AP) — The World Cup is causing quite a buzz on U.S. television.
Preliminary estimates indicate the quadrennial soccer tournament is off to a fast start with viewers, even with the odd, horn-blowing soundtrack that ESPN has sought to minimize on its broadcasts.
Saturday's first-round tie by the U.S. and English teams was seen by an estimated 13 million on ESPN, the Nielsen Co. said on Sunday. It was the nation's most-watched soccer telecast since the 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France, and the most-watched involving the U.S. men's national team since 1994.
San Diego, San Francisco and Las Vegas were the cities most interested in the game, according to the Nielsen figures.
A viewership estimate for the U.S.-England game on the Spanish-speaking Univision network was not immediately available.
An estimated 5.4 million people in the U.S. watched the tournament's first game Friday between Mexico and the South African home team on Univision, Nielsen said. ESPN's telecast of that game had 2.9 million viewers.
The first-round contests introduced most of the world to the vuvuzela, a plastic trumpet carried into the matches and blown on incessantly by thousands of fans. On television, it sounds as if the game is being played before a nest of angry bees.
It's louder at the games than it is on the telecast. ESPN is altering the sound mix on its broadcasts to minimize the crowd noise, network spokesman Bill Hofheimer said. The network has accepted it as part of the atmosphere and has made no complaints about the vuvuzelas, he said.
The sound is driving others crazy, though.
"The constant drone of cheap and tuneless plastic horns is killing the atmosphere of the World Cup," wrote John Leicester, an international sports columnist for the Associated Press. He wrote that it is drowning out the oohs, aahs and cheers that lend excitement to the matches.
Danny Jordaan, the World Cup's organizing chief, said that "it's a difficult question but we're trying to manage it the best we can."
"I would prefer singing," he said.
Plainly, many of the fans take pride in the tradition.
A website informing visitors about South Africa, www.safrica.info, describes the vuvuzelas as "a beautiful noise for the beautiful game."
-- David Bauder
NKorean TV airs 3 World Cup matches
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — North Korean state television has aired unprecedented coverage of three World Cup matches as well as snippets from the opening ceremony — but not the games played by wartime enemies South Korea and the United States.
North Korea has a team at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1966, but it has been unclear how closely North Koreans would be able to follow the tournament and their team's progress.
The communist country has just one state-run TV channel, and foreign radio broadcasts are banned. South Korea's SBS television, which owns the broadcast rights for the entire Korean peninsula, said it would not feed live coverage to North Korea as in the past due to political tensions.
Still, "World Cup fever" is in full swing in North Korea and among North Koreans living overseas, according to the Choson Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang, Korean-language newspaper published in Japan.
On Saturday, Pyongyang's Korean Central Broadcasting began airing World Cup footage from South Africa. Friday's opening match between Mexico and host South Africa aired late Saturday, and the game between France and Uruguay was shown Sunday afternoon.
The match Saturday between Argentina and Nigeria was to air later Sunday, according to the station's program schedule. It was not immediately clear how North Korea obtained the footage. SBS said it was looking into the matter.
FIFA said it is discussing access to the satellite signal for the North Korean public broadcaster with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).
Conspicuously missing from the broadcasting lineup: games between South Korea and Greece, and the United States and England.
Communist North Korea and U.S.-backed South Korea fought a bitter three-year war that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. Washington and Seoul do not have diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.
Relations between the two Koreas warmed during the decade-long "sunshine" era under two liberal Seoul administrations. As part of reconciliation efforts, South Korean broadcasters transmitted live coverage of World Cup matches to the North via satellite.
However, ties cooled since conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008 saying aid to impoverished North Korea must hinge on Pyongyang's commitment to nuclear disarmament.
The sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors in March plunged relations to their lowest point in decades. A five-nation team of investigators concluded last month that a North Korean-made torpedo sank the Cheonan.
South Korea responded to the provocation by taking North Korea to the U.N. Security Council for punishment.
A multinational investigation led by South Korea concluded last month that North Korea was responsible. The North has denied responsibility and threatened to respond to South Korean retaliatory measures with war.
Negotiations between broadcaster SBS and North Korean state TV have been suspended since the incident, senior SBS official Yang Chul-hoon said in Seoul.
The World Cup broadcasts, monitored in Seoul by The Associated Press, showed the full matches but edited out the halftime breaks — far more footage aired than during past World Cups.
The 8 p.m. newscast Saturday also showed scenes from the opening ceremony at Soccer City, including aerial shots, crowd scenes and speeches by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma.
Broadcaster APTN also has aired footage of the North Korean team training at Makhulong Stadium and working out at their hotel gym as they prepare for their first match Tuesday against Brazil.
Soccer has been hugely popular in North Korea since 1966, defectors say. North Korean TV typically airs just snippets of taped footage, but fans who live near North Korea's border with China sometimes can get a TV signal from Chinese or South Korean broadcasts.
In one South Korean filmmaker's imagination, North Korean soldiers risk their lives to watch the World Cup.
In Kye Yoon-shik's film "Dreams Come True," now out in South Korean theaters, North Korean soldiers posted to the Demilitarized Zone spend their free time kicking around a soccer ball, and even meet up for a surreptitious match with their South Korean counterparts.
They're so beset by World Cup fever they risk their lives to rig up illicit broadcasts of South Korean TV so they can follow South Korea's historic advance to the World Cup semifinals in 2002.
-- Jean H. Lee
Israeli separation wall turns into huge TV screen
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Its purpose may be to divide, but for the past few nights, the wall that separates this biblical town in the West Bank from nearby Jerusalem has been bringing an international crowd together to watch the World Cup games.
In a first for Bethlehem, local restaurant owner and avid football fan Joseph Hasboun has been projecting every night game of the World Cup onto the wall facing his eatery, the Bahamas Sea Food Restaurant, located just a few hundred yards away from the city's main checkpoint.
Israel built the barrier along the West Bank to keep out Palestinian attackers, including suicide bombers. Several bombers from Bethlehem blew themselves up in Jerusalem, just three miles (five kilometers) away. Palestinians complain that the barrier juts into the West Bank, and here in Bethlehem, the 30-foot concrete wall is an imposing presence that bears down on the town.
But for a month, during the football tournament, Palestinians are putting it to good use.
On a chilly Sunday night, Germans, Austrians, Americans and local Palestinians gathered at outdoor tables to watch Germany beat Australia 4-0.
"It lets you forget for a short time about the harsh reality," said Michael Exeler, 61 a German development worker living in Jerusalem. "It's the best you can make of it."
It isn't the first time that Hasboun has made use of the wall, directly across the street from his restaurant, monopolizing the view from its windows. When he decided to reopen the family restaurant two years ago, he used the cement canvas to paint larger-than-life menus in English and Arabic.
"The wall is a very negative thing, so if we can do something positive with it, we will," Hasboun said. "My goal is to bring everybody together. It's good for business, and it's good for Bethlehem."
Bethlehem's economy centers on tourism, and years of Mideast violence has depressed its economy. Even in the best of times, the town is not known for its night life.
The World Cup has changed that, at least for now. Hasboun says his restaurant is staying open late to accommodate the night games.
Locals are hopeful that even once the World Cup ends, the late-night projections will stick around.
"It's a new idea in Bethlehem," said Raneem Hosh, 25, a Bethlehem native who has come to watch the games every night, even though she says she doesn't even like soccer. "I come here for the ambiance. Maybe we can use it as a cinema after, since we don't have one here."
-- Karoun Demirjiran
FIFA probes 8,000 no-shows at SKorea-Greece game
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA is investigating whether transportation and ticket distribution systems failed after at least 8,000 seat-holders didn't get to the World Cup match between South Korea and Greece in Port Elizabeth.
The problem appeared to occur for a second straight day Sunday when another match between two of the tournament's less glamorous teams, Algeria and Slovenia, kicked off in Polokwane at 1:30 p.m. local time with about one-third of the stands empty.
Only 31,513 people attended South Korea's 2-0 victory on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, which holds 42,486 spectators for World Cup games.
FIFA said just 3,000 tickets were available on the morning of the match.
"It looked like a lot of people did not show up at the stadium. We are investigating this," FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said Sunday.
Before the tournament, FIFA aimed to ensure full stadiums by cutting the price on tickets for matches less attractive to fans in the worldwide sales. Host cities were offered group deals to allocate seats among local businesses and public service workers.
Maingot said FIFA helped pay for bus transportation to bring South African fans to the lower-demand games.
"We have been proactive on that, and we asked for a system to be put in place. Apparently, that has not completely worked," he said. "We are working on this to make sure this is not the case for a potential few others of those games."
FIFA said Sunday that 700 unsold tickets were available hours before Algeria and Slovenia played in the 41,733-capacity Peter Mokaba Stadium. Official attendance was 30,235.
Transportation has been a problem in the early days of a World Cup that is proving popular with host nation fans and visitors.
Organizing committee officials experienced what they called "challenges" getting 84,490 fans to a sold-out Soccer City in Johannesburg on Friday for the opening ceremony and South Africa's first match against Mexico.
World Cup and city officials were working Sunday to create a more efficient transit plan before the stadium hosts the well-supported Netherlands playing Denmark in Monday's early-afternoon kickoff.
-- Graham Dunbar
Plane with WCup journalists crash-lands
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A plane carrying World Cup journalists made an emergency landing at a regional airport in northern Johannesburg on Sunday after experiencing technical problems soon after takeoff.
Mark Christoph, operations manager at Lanseria Airport, said the chartered plane had problems with its undercarriage and was forced to make the crash-landing.
"After takeoff, it realized that one of its undercarriage wheels was malfunctioning," Christoph said. "They spent about an hour in the air, circling the airport trying to resolve the problem, going through the normal procedures, and couldn't get it right. So they elected to land without wheels on to the runway."
Airport spokesman Johan Opperman said no one was hurt in the incident, which happened at about 11 a.m. local time.
The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV network said the Metroliner twin turboprop aircraft had 16 people on board, including 14 Al-Jazeera employees who were on their way to Polokwane for the World Cup game between Algeria and Slovenia.
"The team is doing well, but they are a bit shaky after the ordeal," Al-Jazeera editor-in-chief Mohammed Ammor said. "It was a near death experience ... but they are all in good conditions now and they will all resume their duties."
Christoph said sparks flew from the underside of the plane as it came down on its belly on the Lanseria runway. People left the aircraft through the emergency exits after it came to a stop.
Christoph added that the aircraft had been removed from the runway and airport operations were returning to normal. Airport officials said an investigation had been launched.
The airport also confirmed the runway was cleared in time for film star John Travolta to fly from Lanseria to Durban in his own Qantas-branded 707 aircraft.
Travolta is a spokesman for the Australian airline and is in South Africa to support the Australian football team at the World Cup.
Notebook: Ronaldo roots from afar
British broadcaster ITV is apologizing to fans for missing the first goal of the England- United States World Cup match.
Fans watching the channel's high definition HD service on Saturday said the coverage suddenly switched to an advertisement with the game 0-0 in the early stages.
It returned with the score 1-0 for England after Steven Gerrard scored in the fourth minute. The match ended 1-1.
ITV1 host Adrian Chiles also apologized at halftime, telling viewers, "I believe there was some interruption in your coverage."
ITV last year missed Everton's winning goal against Liverpool during an FA Cup match. It apologized at the time for the "inexcusable glitch."
BEAM ME UP: FIFA says it asked stadium security to intervene after a spectator targeted a laser beam at the field during Argentina's World Cup match against Nigeria.
The bright green light was aimed at players and Argentina coach Diego Maradona during Saturday's match in Johannesburg.
FIFA says it noticed the beam immediately and alerted security staff at Ellis Park.
FIFA was concerned about fans using laser pens at qualifying matches. It fined the Greek federation $21,800 after beams were directed at opposing Switzerland and Israel players.
ARMSTRONG'S VIEW: Lance Armstrong says he and his multinational teammates at RadioShack aren't too distracted by the World Cup while they're riding in the Tour of Switzerland.
But the seven-time Tour de France champion says it's "good news" that Switzerland and South Africa have the same time zone:
"At least you know that the guys aren't sneaking up at two or three in the morning to watch their country play."
Armstrong said Sunday it was "interesting" the previous night when the U.S. played England to a 1-1 draw because RadioShack and British team Sky were staying in the same hotel.
He said "Nobody was speaking across the dining room."
NO PROMISES: Uruguay striker Diego Forlan is looking to ease the pressure on himself, so he's not promising any goals in the next World Cup game against South Africa.
The 31-year-old Forlan says he "only tries to do the best possible for the team" and "I don't promise goals."
Forlan showed flashes of his potential in Uruguay's first Group A match against France on Friday. But the fear of losing the opening game stifled offensive tactics and the game ended in a dull 0-0 draw.
The forward has twice won the Golden Boot as Europe's top scorer. He can play in several positions, but said Sunday he prefers striker because it's where he feels "most comfortable."
Uruguay plays South Africa on Wednesday in Pretoria.
FOUL PLAY: France defender Eric Abidal says players have to "make the right fouls" to avoid getting a yellow card early at the World Cup. He thinks referees give them out more easily at that stage of the tournament.
Franck Ribery and Patrice Evra received cards from by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura within the first 20 minutes of France's 0-0 draw against Uruguay on Friday for tugging at opponents.
Nishimura also sent off Uruguay's Nicolas Lodeiro late in the game for a second yellow card.
"It's a problem, especially when you see the way we got them," Abidal said Sunday. "We know the referees will be more attentive to detail in the first matches and, I think, will put their hand in their pockets more easily. Now it's up to us to be intelligent enough and make the right fouls that we need to, and above all not get a card."
France had to play without star playmaker Zinedine Zidane in its last group game against Togo at the 2006 World Cup because he was suspended.
France's next Group A match is against Mexico on Thursday in Polokwane.
"Things will be even harder if we have a bad result," Abidal said. "We're capable of creating chances, let's hope it's the same against Mexico and we can put them away."
Abidal refuses to admit France has a problem scoring goals and remains confident the French will turn things around.
"But a lot of teams have a lot of potential and can't score. You're coming up against teams who give everything."
BACKING GREEN: Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon supports England counterpart Robert Green after his blunder that gifted the United States a 1-1 draw with England.
Buffon, considered by some the world's best keeper over the past decade, said Green's mishandling of a slow 25-yard shot by U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey could happen to anyone.
The 32-year-old Buffon acknowledged Sunday he's concerned about making a similar mistake just a day before Italy kicks off its World Cup defense against Paraguay in Cape Town.
"I want to express my total solidarity with Green, and I hope that the same doesn't happen to me in my worst nightmare," Buffon said.
Goalkeepers throughout the tournament have expressed their support for Green — and their relief it didn't happen to them.
Uruguay won't press charges in theft
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Uruguayan soccer officials have declined to pursue a theft case after allegations emerged that one of their own may have been responsible.
South Africa police spokesman Leon Engelbrecht said after receiving a report that about $12,000 was missing from two of the delegation's Cape Town hotel rooms several hours before Uruguay played France on Friday, authorities reviewed hotel surveillance camera footage.
"There's a big possibility that a member of the Uruguayan delegation was involved," Engelbrecht said Sunday.
He said when delegation members saw the footage, they decided not to open a case.
Sebastian Bauza, president of the Uruguayan soccer association, denied a delegation member was involved, saying that pressing charges would take too much time and distract from the World Cup.
Engelbrecht said police cannot complete their investigation if the Uruguayans don't pursue the case.
"Now we will never actually know" what happened, Engelbrecht said, adding it was the second such case related to the World Cup. Three Greek players had money stolen from their hotel rooms at a beach resort near Durban on Tuesday, and the Greek team told police it did not want to open a case.
South Africa's high crime rate has been a concern since it was awarded the World Cup bid, and officials have stressed they are doing all they can to keep World Cup visitors safe.
On Saturday, General Bheki Cele, South Africa's top police officer, praised his officers and prosecutors for acting quickly after three journalists — two from Portugal, one from Spain — were robbed of money, camera equipment, laptop computers and mobile phones June 9 in a town northwest of Johannesburg. One of the journalists was robbed at gunpoint.
Within days, three suspects were arrested, tried, and sentenced — two to 15 years each, one to four years.
-- Donna Bryson
Portugal's Ronaldo not worried by 16-month drought
MAGALIESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't scored for Portugal for 16 months but he's not worried, saying "goals are like ketchup."
Ronaldo's last international goal came in a friendly in February 2009, from the penalty spot against Finland. In competitive matches, he has not found the net since the 2008 European Championship.
"The goals will come. They'll come naturally," Ronaldo said Sunday. "It's like a great player once told me: goals are like ketchup ... you keep on forcing it, then it comes all at once."
Ronaldo intends to "erupt" at the World Cup in South Africa, and Portugal's opener Tuesday against Ivory Coast in Port Elizabeth offers him the chance to end that drought.
"When I say erupt ... I mean show what I can do, not just a one-off but to play well at the World Cup," Ronaldo said. "I always want to be the best."
World Cup fans in Bangladesh riot after power cuts
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Hundreds of angry football fans smashed vehicles in the Bangladeshi capital after power outages interrupted live TV broadcasts of a World Cup match, police said Sunday.
The violence erupted late Saturday when the blackouts hit Dhaka's southern Saidabad district just before the match between Argentina and Nigeria, said police official Mohammad Moniruzzaman.
He said nearly 200 youths — many of them armed with iron rods — joined the rampage and blocked roads for several hours. No one was injured, he said.
Impoverished Bangladesh suffers from frequent power outages, but authorities say they are trying to reduce blackouts, especially during World Cup matches.
Football is the most popular sport in Bangladesh after cricket, even though the South Asian nation has never qualified for any major international football tournament.
Honduras forward Suazo not fit
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Honduras forward David Suazo won't recover in time from a right leg injury to play against Chile in their Group H match Wednesday, a team trainer says.
Carlos Velasco says from a "physical point of view, he isn't in condition" to play. But Velasco says it's up to coach Reinaldo Rueda to decide on Suazo, who is one of the keys to the Honduran attack.
Velasco adds Sunday that midfielder Wilson Palacios has recovered from a left thigh injury and is available.
FIFA acts on fan with laser beam at Argentina game
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA says it asked stadium security to intervene after a spectator targeted a laser beam at the field during Argentina's World Cup match against Nigeria.
The bright green light was aimed at players and Argentina coach Diego Maradona during Saturday's match in Johannesburg.
FIFA says it noticed the beam immediately and alerted security staff at Ellis Park.
FIFA was concerned by fans using laser pens at qualifying matches. It fined the Greek football federation 25,000 Swiss francs ($21,800; €18,000) after beams were directed at opposing Switzerland and Israel players.
Other Soccer News
Scolari to coach Brazil's Palmeiras after WCup
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will charge at Brazilian club Palmeiras after his work as a commentator at the World Cup.
Scolari's spokesman says Scolari has reached a deal to coach the four-time Brazilian champion until the end of 2012.
Spokesman Acaz Fellegger said in a statement Sunday the contract will be signed when Scolari returns to Brazil after the World Cup in South Africa.
Scolari had worked with Palmeiras from 1997-2000, helping it win the 1998 Brazilian Cup and the 1999 Copa Libertadores.
It will be his first job in Brazil since coaching Chelsea and Uzbek club Bunyodkor.
Scolari won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil and coached Portugal to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
Real Sociedad returns to Spanish topflight
MADRID (AP) — Real Sociedad beat Celta Vigo 2-0 in Spain's second division on Sunday to return to the topflight after a three-season absence.
Xabi Prieto converted a penalty and Carlos Bueno added a goal in the second half as Real returned to Spain's top division after going down at the end of the 2006-07 campaign.
Levante will also play in the top flight next season, after two years in the second division, following a 3-1 win over Castellon.
With one round of games left, Hercules and Real Betis have the best chance of taking the final promotion place.
Xerez, Tenerife and Valladolid will all drop to the second division next year in their place.
Barcelona elects Rosell president
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona says its members have elected Sandro Rosell as its president, succeeding Joan Laporta at the helm of the Catalan club.
The club said on its website Sunday that Rosell had won more than 60 percent of the vote. Agusti Benedito came second.
Laporta had been president since 2003 and leaves the Spanish champion after presiding over one of its most successful periods, winning six trophies in 2009.
Coach Pep Guardiola said he would not commit to the club for next year until he knew who the new president would be.
Brescia wins promotion to Serie A
BRESCIA, Italy (AP) — Brescia will play in the Serie A next season after beating Torino 2-1 in the second leg of the Italian second division playoff final.
Brescia, which played out a scoreless draw in Turin last Wednesday, took a 34th minute lead Sunday through Davide Possanzini before strike partner Andrea Caracciolo made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 67th.
Torino had defender Danilo D'Ambrosio sent off two minutes later, but still managed to pull a goal back through substitute Rachid Arma in the 86th. It was reduced to nine men in the fourth minute of added time after Apimah Barusso was shown a red card.
Brescia, back after a five-year absence, will join Lecce and Cesena in Italy's top flight next season.
