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[Odler]

Countdown: 22 hours, 39 min, 18 seconds left, as of this writing.

The four-year wait is about to be over. The 2002 World Cup will be on for a month and will be delighting the six billions of us with heart-pounding, succulent moments. Moments that will make history. Moments that we will recall as deeds and statistics for decades to come.

So who will win the 17th World Cup? Europe and the Americas are in parity (8-8). What continent will win its 9th? Or will Africa win this time? Your guess is as good as mine.

Historically, when no one is sure who is to win a World Cup tournament, Italy wins it. The Italians do that; they come out of nowhere, play the catenaccio (lock), and beat everyone by 1-0. They did it in 1982 and almost reiterated the feat in 1990, and 1994.

I would not be surprised to see them win this year. They have not lost a single World Cup game within the regular 90 minutes, since 1986! If they win, they would equate Brazil?s World Cup wins (four), but with a much less panache.

In a tournament underlined as a contest between Europe and South America, Brazil being logically out of the picture, Argentina is the choice of my heart. By continental solidarity.

France is the most cohesive on paper and is likely to do better than Argentina in Asia. They play better in the rain (it is set to rain a lot), and they have the psychological advantage of the being the titleholder.

If there is a surprise winner, it will most likely be Sweden. The records show they beat Argentina and Nigeria during their last encounters; they are vying for a repeat. And they have not lost to England in 38 years!

Another possible surprise-team is Portugal. The Portuguese are the Brazilians of Europe. They play the same beautiful nowadays-nostalgic attacking game. They also have Louis Figo, the 56-million dollar maven European Champion of Real Madrid, and FIFA Player of the Year for 2001.

And of course, Croatia or Slovenia could be one of the four semifinalists. Easy.

My last word: I don?t know who will win. The first Cup disputed outside of Europe and the Americas is most likely to finish in Europe. ?It is also the most open in decades? (Pele). I think France should win, I hope Argentina does, but watch Italy, watch Italy, watch Italy?

(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Thursday, May 30, 2002)