By Paul Kennedy Managing Editor in Pusan, South Korea The 2002 World Cup will take place Saturday, Dec. 1, in Pusan, South Korea, in ceremonies to begin at 5 am ET (live radio coverage on Futbol de Primera Spanish-language network; live online at www.ussoccer.com and on television with taped coverage on Univision -- East feed: 11 am ET; Central feed 10 am CT; Mountain Feed: 10 am MT; West Feed: 9 am PT). Here's an analysis of the 24 potential U.S. opponents in the first round. In parentheses is the strength of the potential opponent in comparison to the United …

Top-ranked North Carolina needed a lucky bounce or two to return to the NCAA Division I women's soccer final four for the 20th successive year, edging Penn State, 2-1, in Friday's quarterfinal at Chapel Hill, N.C. An attempted clearance by Penn State goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk in the 80th minute slammed off Tar Heels striker Alyssa Ramsey's back side and bounced twice into an open net to deliver the victory. North Carolina has ousted the Nittany Lions from the playoffs two of the past three seasons. Carolina (23-0) advances to face the winner of Sunday's Portland-Texas A&M clash at the College …

Roger Levesque scored two goals Friday night, the latter a knockout punch that secured Stanford a spot among the elite eight in the NCAA Division I men's soccer championship with a 3-1 victory over visiting Portland. The third-seeded Cardinal (18-1-1) also got a goal from Matt Janusz, who netted three in Stanford's second-round victory over Santa Clara, as it advanced to next weekend's quarterfinals against the winner of Saturday's St. Louis-Loyola (Md.) third-round game. Levesque fired Stanford ahead in the 18th minute after Janusz's blast from the top of the bar was blocked by Portland defender Isaac Vanderburg but fell …

Interview with Marc Nicholls, director of coaching ò Location: New Orleans. ò History: Formed as FVB in 1990 by Franz Van Balkom, Louisiana's first director of coaching. Became NOSA in 1994. ò Championships: 2001: 6 state championships; 5 USYSA Region III bronze medalists; U-17 boys Region III runners-up. ò Most famous players: "Ask me in five years!" ò Number of players: 250 (select, ages U-11 through 19); 50 (tots and developmental program, ages 6-11). ò Number of select teams: 17 boys and girls. ò Number of coaches: …

Defending champion Cal State Dominguez Hills and final-four host Tampa pulled out overtime victories in Friday's NCAA Division II men's soccer semifinals. Rick Cobb finished off Scott White's through ball in the 101st minute to send Dominguez Hills (20-2-1) into Sunday's final with a 1-0 triumph over Dowling, N.Y. (15-1-3). Luis Morales made five saves to post his 12th shutout of the season, and fifth in succession, for the Toros. Tampa (18-0-2) overcame a deficit on Roy Fink's 87th-minute strike, then toppled SIU Edwardsville (17-3-3), 2-1, on Kareem Escayg's goal 14 seconds into overtime. NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP at …

Christian Brothers lost Missy Gregg but not its No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with five-time champion Franklin Pierce and advanced Friday to the NCAA Division II women's soccer final. Final-four host UC San Diego also reached Sunday's title game, pulling out a tight win against Northern Kentucky in a rematch of last season's final. Margaret Saurin had a first-half hat trick and Gregg returned from a first-half injury to score her 73rd goal of the season as second-ranked Christian Brothers (22-0) pummeled top-ranked Franklin Pierce (22-1) in the opener at Triton Soccer Stadium in La Jolla. Saurin's goals gave …

The date: Dec. 1. The place: Pusan, South Korea. The master of ceremonies: FIFA general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen. Soccer's greatest show is the World Cup draw ceremony at which the 32 finalists will be divided into eight groups of four. American fans will wake up on the morning of Dec. 1 to learn the fate of the United States in the 2002 World Cup. The draw to determine the eight first-round groups will have already been held in the Pusan Exhibition & Convention Center in the Korean port city of Pusan. Hundreds of millions of fans around …

FRANCE WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 41 21 6 14 86 58 Final Fours 1958 --- Third place. 1982 -- Fourth place. 1986 -- Third place. 1998 -- Champion. U.S. RIVALRY 1979 -- France 6-0. 1979 -- France 3-0. TEAM Barthez, Thuram, Desailly, Leboeuf, Lizarazu, Vieira, Petit, Pires, Zidane, Henry, Terezeguet. QUALIFYING Qualified as defending champion.

RUSSIA WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 34 16 6 12 60 40 Final Fours 1966 -- Fourth place. U.S. RIVALRY 1979 -- Soviet Union 3-1. 1979 -- Soviet Union 4-1. 1990 -- Tie 1-1. 1990 -- Tie 0-0. 1992 -- CIS 1-0. 1992 -- USA 2-1. 1993 -- Russia 1-0. 1993 -- Tie 0-0. 1994 -- Tie 1-1. 2000 -- Russia 2-0. TEAM Nigmatoulin, Onopko, Chougainov, Smertin, Kovtun, Mostovoi, Karpin, Alenichev, Titov, Bestchastnykh, Khokhlov. QUALIFYING Sept. 2 in Zurich Switzerland 0 Russia 1 (Beschastnykh 74). Oct. 11 in Moscow Russia 3 (Buznikin …

POLAND WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 25 13 5 7 39 29 Final Fours 1974 -- Third place. 1982 -- Third place. U.S. RIVALRY 1924 -- USA 3-2. 1928 -- Tie 3-3. 1973 -- Poland 4-0 1973 -- Poland 1-0 1973 -- Poland 4-0 1973 -- USA 1-0. 1975 -- Poland 7-0 1975 -- Poland 4-0 1988 -- Poland 2-0. 1990 -- USA 3-1. 1990 -- USA 3-2. TEAM Dudek, Klos, Waldoch, Hajto, Michal Zewlakow, Koszminski, Karwan, P.Swierczewski, Kaluzny, Kryszalowicz, Olisadebe. QUALIFYING Sept. 2 in Kiev Ukraine 1 (Shevchenko 13) Poland 3 …

SOUTH KOREA WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 14 0 4 10 11 43 U.S. RIVALRY 1987 -- South Korea 1-0. 1989 -- South Korea 2-1. 1994 -- Tie 1-1. TEAM Lee Won Jae, Choi Sung Yong, Hong Myung Bo, Kim Tae Young, Lee Min Sung, Song Chong Gog, Lee Young Pyo, Park Ji Sung, Yoo Chang Sul, Hwang Sun Hong, Seol Ki Hyeon. QUALIFYING Qualified as co-host.

PORTUGAL WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 9 6 0 3 19 12 Final Fours 1966 -- Third place. U.S. RIVALRY 1978 -- Portugal 1-0. 1980 -- Tie 1-1. 1990 -- Portugal 1-0. 1992 -- USA 1-0. TEAM Ricardo, Frechaut, Fernando Couto, Jorge Costa, Rui Jorge, Petit, Paulo Sousa, Figo, Jorge Costa, Nuno Gomes, Pauleta. QUALIFYING Sept. 3 in Tallinn Estonia 1 (Oper 84) Portugal 3 (Rui Costa 14, Figo 49, Sa Pinto 57). Oct. 7 in Lisbon Portugal 1 (Sergio Conceicao 57) Ireland 1 (Holland 72). Oct. 11 in Rotterdam Netherlands 0 …

SLOVENIA WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 0 0 0 0 0 0 U.S. RIVALRY No games. TEAM Simueunovic, Milinovic, Vugdalic, Galic, D.Novak, A.Ceh, Pavlin, Acomivic, Karic, Osterc, Rudonja. QUALIFYING Sept. 3 in Toftir Faeroe Islands 2 (Arge 87, O.Hansen 90) Slovenia 2 (Udovic 25, Osterc 85). Oct. 7 in Luxembourg Luxembourg 1 (Strasser 46) Slovenia 2 (Zahovic 39, Milinovic 41). Oct. 11 in Ljubljana Slovenia 2 (Siljak 44, Acimovic 78) Switzerland 2 (Turkyilmaz 20, 66). March 24 in Moscow Russia 1 (Khlestov 8) Slovenia 1 (Knavs 22). March 28 in Ljubljana Slovenia …

JAPAN WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 3 0 0 3 1 4 U.S. RIVALRY 1993 -- Japan 3-1. TEAM Kawaguchi, Morioka, Matsuda, K.Nakata, Inamoto, Hato, Morishima, H.Nakata, Ono, Takahara, Yanagisawa. QUALIFYING Qualified as co-host.

CAMEROON WORLD CUP HISTORY Record GP W T L GF GA 14 3 6 5 13 26 U.S. RIVALRY No games. TEAM Alioum, Song, Kalle, Njanka, Geremi, Foe Wome, Alnoudji, Olembe, Eto'o, Mboma. QUALIFYING PRELIMINARY April 19 in Yaounde Cameroon 3 (Mboma 26, Goe 31, Eto'o 37) Somalia 0. April 23 in Yaounde Cameroon 3 (Mba 15, 27, Olembe 48) Somalia 0. (Cameroon wins 6-0 on aggregate.) AFRICA GROUP A June 18 in Tripoli Libya 0 Cameroon 3 (Mboma 36, 67, Ebongue 87). July 9 in Yaounde Cameroon 3 (Abanda 20, Tchoutang 68, 74) Angola 0. Jan. …