Fans in Camps Bay, Cape Town, South Africa with World Cup fever - Audrey & Patrick Scales photo

Vuvuzelas are creating excitement by fans in the stands at the World Cup in South Africa - Marcello Casal Jr/ABr photo

SPORTS NOTES MAX Part 2 - GHANA THE PRIDE OF AFRICA KO's USA - S. KOREA OUT JAPAN REMAINS FOR ASIA

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

Ghana's extra time goal sends USA home - South Korea knocked out by Uruguay - Japan carries torch for Asia - FACTS & FIGURES - Money talks in the development of a football program. Denmark has risen from the ashes of war to be successful with a population less than Cambodia's

Sunday June 27, 2010

SOUTH KOREA ELIMINATED - ONLY JAPAN REPS ASIA

They did it again as Ghana defeated the USA 2-1 in extra time and sent the Americans home. In a hotly contested contest Ghana took the aggressor role and attacked finding holes in the central defense of the US who were playing with only two days rest. Ghana is now the pride of Africa as they are the only African team remaining in the tournament and only the third African team to make it to the quarterfinals where they will meet Uruguay.

South Korea's 2-1 loss to Uruguay last night leaves Japan to carry the torch for Asian World Cup success. They will take on Paraguay Tuesday June 29.

MORE THAN A TROPHY - The Prize money

The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million, a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament. Before the tournament, each participating team would receive $1 million, for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage would receive $8 million. Thereafter, the prize money would be distributed as follows:

* $9 million - Round of 16

* $18 million - Quarterfinals

* $20 million - Semifinals

* $24 million - Runners up

* $30 million - Winners

With North Korea being in such poor financial shape although they failed to progress their participation and monies earned is something their country can be proud of given they made the event while being ranked 105th in the FIFA world rankings. To put that into perspective Thailand is ranked 106th therefore how good how good a showing would they have in giving Brazil a run for their money as did North Korea with a 2-1 result.

In a first for the World Cup, FIFA made payments to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament. This saw a total of €26 million paid to domestic clubs, amounting to just over €1,000 per player per day.

This was the result of an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 group and drop their claims for compensation dating back to 2005 over the financial cost of injuries sustained to their players while on international duty, such as that from Belgian club Charleroi S.C. for injury to Morocco's Abdelmajid Oulmers in a friendly game in 2004, and from English club Newcastle United for an injury to England's Michael Owen in the 2006 World Cup.

CONTINUED - CAMBODIAN FOOTBALL'S DECLINE Part 3

Cambodia's small population of 14,805,000 is not an excuse for their futility in football. Denmark a nation with a population of only 5,540,241 people is capable of producing a world class squad that is currently ranked 34th in the FIFA World Rankings and competed in this World Cup.

The Danes were eliminated in the Group stage finishing with one win and two losses. They lost 2-0 to the Netherlands of their opening game followed by a 2-1 win over Cameroon and a 3-1 loss to Japan. The Netherlands are one of the favorites to win the title and when spot on are considered one of the worlds best.

Denmark has been a solidly competitive side in international football since the mid-1980s, with the triumph in the 1992 European Championships (Euro 1992) tournament as its most prominent victory, beating the European champions in the semifinal, and the world champions in the final. They also won the Confederations Cup in 1995 defeating Argentina 2-0 in the final match.

In World Cup competition Danish Dynamite reached the quarterfinals in 1998 and twice made the Round of 16 in 1986 and 2002.

In another comparison with Cambodia which was recently granted 1.1 billion dollars a year by donors is that during this decade Cambodian players have received salaries ranging from $20 more recently to $100 ten years ago. There is not enough money for the players to buy food and petrol. They have been physically too weak to be competitive but in the past have risen to the challenge on occasion only to fade in the later stages of a game too weak to compete.

By comparison each Danish player on the national team receives a set amount of money per game, including bonuses for games won and qualification for the European Championship and World Cup tournaments. Through the years, these money prizes have gone from around €1,340 for a game win in 1987 and around €26,800 for the Euro 1988 participation alone, to around €67,000 for the 1998 World Cup and up to €107,000 for the 2002 World Cup participations, per player.

Currently, the win bonus for friendly games are €1,340 per player, with start money for an away game at €670 per player, while a home win before a sellout crowd of 42,000, can possibly wield €7,600 per player, including the win bonus, due to spectator-dependent bonuses. In the qualification matches for the international tournaments, the bonuses are increased for both home and away wins, with a bonus also being paid for away draws.

Denmark has also recovered from the devastation of the 2nd World War. Following the war despite the country's ability to produce outstanding footballing talent, a bronze medal in the 1948 Olympics was the only result of note in 50 years. As football remained an amateur pastime, most of the best Danish footballers moved abroad to make a living, and foreign-based professionals were barred from the national team, in common with other Scandinavian countries. Cambodia revived International completion in the mid nineties just 16-years after the end of the Khmer Rouge era.

In the 1960s, Denmark had a revival with a third set of Olympic silver at the 1960 Olympics, though the most notable performance was fourth place in the Euro 1964. Denmark took advantage of a comparatively easy draw, as they beat Malta and Luxembourg before losing to the USSR in the semifinal and Hungary in the bronze match.

The national team rule of amateurism was abolished in 1971, which led to a vast improvement in the Danish team's performances. In 1978, professional football was introduced to the Danish leagues, which prompted the first sponsorship of the national team by Danish brewery Carlsberg, enabling the team to hire full-time coach Sepp Piontek from Germany in 1979.

For the current squad Morten Olsen has been Denmark's manager since 2000 while Cambodia has had several managers since they did not renew Joachim Fickert's contract in 2003. Success comes from development and a straightforward effort. Denmark proved that they could rise from the ashes and be successful... can Cambodia.

Part 1 - WORLD CUP SHOCKERS - FRANCE & ITALY EMBARRASSED

Part 3 - GERMANY CHEWS UP & SPITS OUT ENGLAND