Thierry Roland, 64, and Jean Michel Larque, 54, are living history of World Cup live broadcasting at France's top commercial TV station TF1, dating back 40 years when the former took charge of World Cup coverage. Roland got behind the mike during the 1962 World Cup fiesta in Zurich and the 2002 gala marks his 11th consecutive broadcast.
Larque, who played division one football in France, joined the station for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain, and has been a co-host with Roland on 800 occasions. The duo also commentated on the warm up match between South Korea and France on May 26.
As to the possibility Korea to get to the second round, the veteran anchormen and commentators said at first they thought it would be difficult because it was lined up with Portugal and Poland, but they changed their mind after the warm up match with France. ˇ°If we bet on the South Korean opener with Poland, we pick South Korea,ˇ± said Roland. Naming Park Ji-sung, Seol Ki-hyun, Kim Byung-ji, and Hong Myung-bo, the duo said Korea would have no trouble in reaching the second round if they play with the strategy and speed they showed against France.
Asked what were the most impressive World Cup Finals they had commentated on, they both answered the 1998 event in France, but picked different matches that also impressed the two; Roland's favorite was the 1982 World Cup in Spain when Germany beat France on spot kicks after a tie, while Larque rated the Euro 2000 finals when France achieved victory with a golden goal against Italy.
As to this year's winner, they noted France took home advantage last time, but this time Argentina, Italy, Brazil and France will likely be contenders.
They were impressed with the preparations for Asia's first World Cup Finals noting that in particular the Red Devils cheering and spectators carrying out waste after the match were worthy of note.
(Eo Su-ung, jan10@chosun.com)
