WORLD VIEWS

SOUTH AFRICA

From the Star, Johannesburg

“If you are the sort of South African who cannot relate to the concept of honor in deafening defeat, then this report is not for you. Please leave now.

“I am in the misty emptying stands of the Stade Velodrome with my head in my hands and held high, if you know what I mean. I say we did OK. And so do all the cheering Frenchmen around me, but I guess it’s easy for them to say that. . . .

“There’s really only ever one first time, and this was it for South African soccer. So we didn’t get any points--save of the brownie variety. And never forget, we won the warmup exercises by a mile. And the toss.

“And where there’s next week, there’s yet hope.”

GERMANY

From Berlin’s left-of-center daily Berliner Zeitung, on Chancellor Kohl’s visit to German training camp:

“The most important news that Helmut Kohl had in his pockets was the one about the World Cup 2006. Recently, when he met Tony Blair, he told the British prime minister, ‘I know that you want to snatch [from] us the Cup. But I absolutely don’t agree. I am not planning to surrender. We will apply for 2006.’ ”

From Berlin centrist daily Der Tagesspiegel:

“Candles or prayers for the success of the German team? Franz Grave, Bishop of Essen, doesn’t think that such religious gesture help to decide a match. God doesn’t rope in for personal wishes. Soccer matches are decided by hard training, good tactics and luck. But Grave said, ‘Those who are well prepared may ask for God’s blessing.’ ”

KENYA

From the Daily Nation, Nairobi:

“A man was yesterday fined [$35] or sentenced to three months’ jail for operating a television business for World Cup football matches without a license.

“Peter Otieno Aute was found charging soccer fans [15 cents] each to watch the match between Cameroon and Austria at Southlands in Nairobi. He had pleaded guilty before Resident Magistrate Stephen Pareno.

“The court was told that police on patrol heard noise coming from a shop. They found a crowd watching a football match and arrested Aute when they found he had no license for the business.”

HONG KONG

Hong Kong did not qualify for the World Cup and now investigators think they know why. Six national team members were arrested Friday for taking money to lose a qualifying match against Thailand.

Left-winger Chang Tsz-kong faces charges that he conspired with goalkeeper Kevin Lok Kar-win and others to pocket $200,000 from a bookmaker. Some of the players were arrested at gambling dens Friday. Thirty others were arrested in Hong Kong and 14 in Singapore as part of an illegal international betting syndicate that extended to Gibraltar and Britain.

“This is not only incredible, it is shocking for Hong Kong,” a corruption investigator told the South China Morning Post. “We are talking here about a massively well-organized syndicate operation internationally.”

Correspondents Dean Murphy in Nairobi, Christian Retzlaff in Berlin, Maggie Farley in Hong Kong and Juanita Darling in San Salvador contributed to this report.