This World Cup is not sticking to the script. Making at least the first round arguably the best ever Click to view caption The greatest opening round in World Cup history started with one of the biggest upsets ever -- and they never stopped coming after that. Two weeks, 130 goals and 48 matches later, Asia's first World Cup stands poised to top the 1970 tournament in Mexico as the best ever. World champions France, hot pre- tournament favourites Argentina and strongly-fancied dark horses Portugal all packed their bags and returned home. The unheralded Mexicans, Senegalese, Americans and Turks all made it to the second round as upsets came fast and furious. Senegal beat France, the United States defeated Portugal, Denmark overcame France, Ireland drew with Germany, and England, so often overburdened by a false sense of expectation, beat Argentina. The tone was set in the very first match in Seoul on 31 May. World and European champions France, all sunglasses and hair gel at the airport, wafted into the tournament with 90 per cent of their countrymen telling a Paris pollster they fully expected France to retain the trophy. But Pape Bouba Diop and his Senegalese team mates had other ideas. All but two of their 23- man squad play for French clubs and were simply not overawed by their opponents' reputation and achievements. Diop got the only goal after 30 minutes. France did not score in their opening three matches, drawing 0-0 with Uruguay and losing 2-0 to Denmark. They went home with the worst record of any defending champion in history -- without a goal or a win. They were the first holders since Brazil in 1966 to go out in the first round. France will now be ranked 28th out of the 32 finalists at the end of the tournament with only Tunisia, Slovenia, the Chinese and Saudis beneath them. One day later, Argentina followed France to the departure lounge at Narita Airport outside Tokyo. Argentina cruised through the qualifiers, winning the tough South American competition by 10 points and scoring 42 goals. With the national economy in crisis, the likes of Ariel Ortega, Gabriel Batistuta and Diego Simeone promised their countrymen a World Cup victory to alleviate their suffering. But after beating Nigeria 1-0, Argentina stumbled out, losing to old rivals England 1-0 and then drawing 1-1 with Sweden. Batistuta was in tears at the end, his international career over. His sole consolation was that he joined a select band of only six men to score 10 or more goals in the finals. The end also beckons now for Portugal's 'golden generation' -- the men who as boys won world junior championships a decade ago. For World Player of the Year Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Joao Pinto, Jorge Costa and Vitor Baia the moment had come. But not as they hoped. They were 3-0 down to the US in their opening match before bouncing back but still lost 3-2, beat Poland 4-0 thanks to a Pauleta hat-trick and finally went out after losing 1-0 to South Korea with nine men. The championship has not been all surprises. Traditional World Cup powerhouses Brazil, Italy and Germany survived the cull, as did the English, the Danes, the Spanish and the Irish -- and so, too, did both co-hosts. Scenes of almost unrivalled jubilation have engulfed South Korea and Japan as the Asian countries reached the second round for the first time ever. Incredibly, in fact, both topped their qualifying groups. The Koreans finally won in the World Cup after five previous tournaments that produced four draws and 10 defeats over 48 years. Japan won twice after losing all three matches on their debut appearance in France four years ago. Global doubt was expressed before the tournament began about whether either would win a match and many thought one or the other would become the first World Cup hosts ever to fail to get past the opening round. They exceeded expectations to an unlikely degree, and Japanese midfielder Junichi Inamoto, who spent almost all of last season in the reserves at English premier league club Arsenal, has emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon to be lauded as the player of the round. The bane of previous World Cups, ticket problems and hooliganism, have not been major factors. A ticketing scandal did blight the opening games but it appears to be on the wane with far fewer empty seats in the stadiums at later first round games. The threat of hooliganism, whipped up by tabloid journalists, local politicians and excitable police commanders, has failed to materialise. The deputy mayor of Taegu in Korea, who last year pleaded for English hooligans to visit his city so his police force could teach them a lesson or two, must be one of the few disappointed men in Korea. Violence on the streets have not transpired. The conflict has been on the field where it belongs. All-star team Reporters covering the World Cup in South Korea and Japan have chosen the following 11 players as their "team of the first round." GOALKEEPER: Brad Friedel (United States) DEFENDERS: Cafu (Brazil), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Rio Ferdinand (England), Kim Tae-young (South Korea) MIDFIELDERS: Salif Diao (Senegal), Gerardo Torrado (Mexico), Junichi Inamoto (Japan), Hasan Sas (Turkey) FORWARDS: Ronaldo (Brazil), Raul Gonzalez (Spain)
