Snippets from Asia

FIFA dismissed complaints about the new, high-tech ball being used at the World Cup finals and suggested yesterday that the players had simply imagined the problems. Although David Beckham is among its fans, some players have called the new Adidas "Fevernova" ball uncontrollable, too big or just plain "stupid".

But FIFA's communications director Keith Cooper told a news conference: "It's a bit strange. The ball produced for the World Cup was given to qualifying teams in December. It is not as if players have never seen it before.

"Most of the teams have been playing with it for six months. There is no reason to believe it behaves differently in South Korea and Japan than in any other part of the world."

He continued: "I remember a match I was responsible for in 1982 when both teams played with a ball they had never seen in their life.

"It was a standard Adidas ball but it had been painted with an emblem. It was exactly the same ball but all the players complained about it. Very often the appearance makes it look far more different than it really is."

More tickets available

Japanese organisers of the World Cup have started to sell thousands of "unsold" tickets through the Internet, they said yesterday.

Officials of the Japanese organisers JAWOC said about 2,600 tickets for yesterday's match between England and Sweden were made available on the website of soccer's world governing body FIFA.

The officials declined to say why the tickets remained unsold, but the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said the tickets could be those allocated to foreign soccer associations but were unpaid.

The JAWOC officials said an unspecified number of "unsold tickets", if any, for other matches would be sold through the Internet on match days.

Tofting... x-ray says no break

Danish midfielder Stig Tofting is fit to continue in the World Cup after an x-ray revealed that he has not broken a bone in his foot in his side's 2-1 victory over Uruguay on Saturday.

The Bolton Wanderers player suffered the injury 20 minutes from the end of Saturday's match and though he played on until the final whistle he said afterwards that he feared a break.

However, Danish team officials said yesterday that an x-ray on his left foot, taken on Saturday night, revealed no fracture.

Officials are not yet sure whether Tofting will be fit for Denmark's next game, against Senegal on Thursday, but the signs are that he will play. Tofting is a vital cog in the Danish machine, linking with fellow English premier league player Thomas Gravesen of Everton in a tough-tackling central midfield partnership.

Zidane... getting better

France playmaker Zinedine Zidane is recovering well from a thigh injury as he faces a race to be fit for their second match following their shock opening day defeat by Senegal, the team doctor said yesterday.

"The injury is evolving favourably. Zidane resumed jogging on Saturday," the world champions' doctor Jean-Marcel Ferret said in statement.

Zidane has been swimming and using an exercise bike to strengthen his leg, Ferret added.

France coach Roger Lemerre had hinted on Saturday that the inspirational midfielder may not be fit in time to face Uruguay in the second match in Pusan on Thursday.

Zidane tore his left thigh muscle during a warm-up friendly against South Korea last week and missed the 1-0 defeat in Seoul on Friday.

Since the beginning of this year, France have not won when they have played without Zidane.

Japan seek to avoid drubbing

Co-hosts Japan are under no illusions about the challenge they face in their Group H opener against Belgium tomorrow, but they are determined to avoid the kind of drubbing Germany inflicted on Saudi Arabia.

"We are not thinking of being the next Saudi Arabia," defender Ryuzo Morioka said yesterday.

"We know Belgium are dangerous opponents but if we do our jobs properly, there will be no cause for panic," he added.

Morioka, whose return to fitness after a serious hamstring injury has given Japan a huge boost, said the Japanese players were under no illusions about the difficulty of their task in Saitama.

"Belgium are effective from set pieces and they attack with real speed," said the 26-year-old. "We know all about Wilmots too. He will be a handful to mark, so we know that we can't afford to lose concentration."

Ticketless baby refused entry!

An eight-month-old Canadian baby was denied access to the Sapporo World Cup stadium for Germany's 8-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia because he did not have a ticket.

"My son was not yet born when we bought tickets to the game. We had been told that the baby could enter the stadium even without a ticket," the mother was quoted as saying.

The baby was refused entry even though his mother said she had been told by officials that she would be permitted to take him to the match. An official of the organising committee said: "It has been decided, as a rule, not to allow those without a ticket - regardless of age - to enter a stadium or ride the shuttle buses. It's stated clearly on ticket application forms."