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World Cup final venue 'sensational'

By Jeremy Walker
 TOKYO (June 17)--The venue for the 2002 World Cup final received glowing praise from Bolivia's national team coach, Carlos Aragones, on Saturday.
 After conducting an afternoon training session at the 70,000-capacity International Stadium Yokohama, Aragones said his team was looking forward to playing in the stadium against Japan on Sunday.
 "The pitch is very good and the stadium itself is beautiful," said Aragones, who has brought an inexperienced squad to Japan for the three-nation Kirin Cup.
 "The Japanese people have selected an ideal stadium to stage the World Cup final. I would describe it as sensational in design."
 The stadium, which is only a 15-minute walk from the busy Shin Yokohama train station, was completed just over two years ago and is the biggest of the country's 10 World Cup venues.

 Despite the wet and humid conditions, a crowd of over 60,000 is expected for Sunday's game, one Japan must win by at least two goals to take the trophy for the first time since 1997.
 Japan and Slovakia drew 1-1 last Sunday in the opening game of the annual tournament, and Slovakia beat Bolivia 2-0 at Tosu Stadium in Saga prefecture on Wednesday.
 A 2-0 win for Japan over Bolivia would enable them to share the title with Slovakia, but a 3-1 win would give them outright victory on number of goals scored.
 Aragones said 80 per cent of his players were new to the national squad because overseas clubs refused to release their Bolivian internationals for a friendly tournament in the middle of South America's World Cup qualifying competition, and Bolivian clubs were involved in the closing stages of the domestic championship.
 "What are the characteristics of Bolivia's national team?" Aragones commented in reply to a question at a post-training news conference.
 "I don't know because this is not the Bolivian national team. We haven't had a lot of time to prepare these players, although in general we play a 4-4-2 system, sometimes changing to 3-5-2.
 "I think our style is similar to Japan's, based on speed and technique."
 Aragones said he expected a better display from his team after they lost 2-0 to Slovakia.
 "It took us 40 hours to get to Japan, so it wasn't easy playing the first game. But now we have adapted to the temperatures here, which are quite hot, although of course it takes longer to adapt to the time difference.  "If the conditions are wet, then we will be shooting from long range to try and make use of the slippery surface.
 "We know that Japan will be trying to score three goals, so we have to keep the ball and keep our concentration."
 The players looked relaxed during the training session, and even more so after it, taking it in turns to have their photographs taken inside the stadium that will host the most important game in the world on June 30, 2002.