While all eyes in the United States are focusing on the World Series, the world itself is looking at other playing fields. For an astute observer of the international scene, the world of sport reveals significantly global trends. Alfonso Serrano is a San Francisco-based journalist and an Associate Editor for New California Media.

BALKAN BATTLE

Tension in the Balkans flared up again recently as Yugoslavia and Croatia battled for 90 minutes -- on a soccer field. The game, billed as the "match of the century," ended in a 2-2 draw. The result qualified Yugoslavia for next year's European Championship, while ending Croatia's hopes of same.

Yugoslav players received a hero's reception.

"We have achieved a major feat," said Yugoslav captain Dragan Stojkovic. "It was a war out there on the pitch and we knew what this match meant to people."

The victory sparked celebrations in Belgrade's central square, where 30,000 fans had watched the game. The jubilant Yugoslavs destroyed a bus, and the celebrations brought an abrupt end to a rally by Serbian opposition parties.

Sportski Zurnal, a Belgrade daily, said of Sinisa Mihajlovic, set up both Yugoslavia's goals. "The man is a bomb."

CHAMP IS BORED

US tennis star Serena Williams, the recent US Open champion and fourth-ranked women's player in the world, told the German daily "Bild" that she is bored with women's tennis and would rather compete against men.

Williams has officially asked the ATP, tennis' governing body, to be invited to this month's Super 9 tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, which assembles the best male players in the world.

"We hope we get a positive answer because, according to the rules of the game, women can compete against men," Orecene Williams, Serena's mother, told Bild.

RUSSIA'S NEW TROUBLES

Russia's woes continue -- not just because of a tumbling economy, recent bombings, or pesky breakaway republics.

The latest bad news came from a soccer field, where Russia drew against Ukraine and failed to qualify for next year's European Championship.

"We play football no worse than we do anything else," read a Monday headline in the daily Vremya-MN. "Let's be blunt. We did it our way...Just like we do so many things: elect presidents, collect harvests, or, for example, build roads."

Adding insult to injury, four Russian soccer officials were suspended last week following allegations they got drunk before a match in Israel. Closer to home, two more Russian officials were replaced after allegedly having one too many before a second division match in Moscow.

MANO-A-MANO ON THE DIAMOND

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro will go head to head next month during the Ibero-American summit in Havana -- on a baseball diamond.

Chavez challenged Castro to face his pitching in a veteran's exhibition game -- and promises to strike him out.

"I hope that Fidel is going to be batting fourth, so he'd better prepare because I'm going to strike him out," said Chavez during an official visit to China. According to a press release, Chavez went for a 25-minute jog and threw about 40 pitches in Beijing where he met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin

Chavez, 45, who dreamed of becoming a Major League baseball player as a young man, said his friendship with Castro would not keep him from trying to fan the Cuban -- who, legend has it, once tried out unsuccessfully for the Washington Senators.