2002 World Cup bursts into life

The 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan burst into life with a stunning opening extravaganza encompassing the old and the new, as befits a traditional nation which has helped inspire a technological revolution across the globe.

The opening ceremony, an hour before reigning champions France and World Cup debutants Senegal kicked off the tournament, was a dazzling celebration of both traditional Korean culture and cutting-edge technology using sound, amazing visual effects and brilliantly-choreographed dancing.

The excitement in South Korea has been building to a crescendo over the last few weeks. In fact, the country has gone football mad.

There is little doubt this will be the most spectacular World Cup ever, not surprising with £4billion spent on stadiums and £8million on the opening ceremony alone.

Five hours before kick-off, on the baked-earth sports pitches that line the banks of the Han-dang - the huge river which splits Seoul in two - every dusty football field had 22 Koreans indulging in the beautiful game.

By contrast, the numerous basketball courts were deserted, but so too were the football pitches soon as players headed for their TV screens.

Around the globe, more than 500 million people watched on television too as 2,300 performers - half of them in traditional folk costume - entered the space-age Seoul World Cup Stadium for a 40-minute display of jaw-dropping creativity.

Global peace was the theme for the ceremony - and South Korea has billed the tournament as a force for world harmony, not least in regard to its estranged neighbour North Korea and co-hosts Japan, with whom relations are only now thawing out half a century after the end of the Second World War.

Outside the stadium and across the capital city, 420,000 police and military personnel were involved in an enormous security operation designed to keep that peace.

Helicopters and fighter jets scoured the skies, and anti-aircraft missiles have been deployed near stadiums with the events of September 11 in mind.

The opening ceremony itself began with a symbolic joining of the flags of Korea and Japan, after which the 60,000 fans banged paper drums, creating a buzzing noise like a billion angry bees.

After welcoming speeches - during which FIFA president Sepp Blatter had to speak over jeers and whistles from a small but noisy contingent of French fans - hundreds of ceremonial dancers took to the field accompanied by a deafening drum display, before space-age ’digital messengers’ descended on cables from the stadium’s roof.

’Digital clowns’, wearing state-of-the-art liquid crystal display screens as faces,, capered across the field of play, a huge 30ft-high bell rang out, fireworks exploded then several thousand inflatable footballs cascaded from the roof onto the fans.

At the climax, helium balloons filled with flower seeds were released into the sky by children from all 32 countries followed by more fireworks and the football, finally, could begin.