Soccer: Rebellion of the Davids quashed by Goliath Brazil

By GLENN MOORE

The carcasses of giants lie littered across the Korean peninsula and Japanese archipelago. The French and Portuguese were slain at Inchon, the Argentines felled at Miyagi, the Italians toppled at Taejon and the Spanish ambushed at Kwangju. But the Davids could not bring down all the Goliaths.

At the Saitama 2002 Stadium last night the rebellion set in train by Senegal and South Korea was finally quashed as Brazil followed Germany in re-establishing the primacy of the old order with a 1-0 win over Turkey.

To underline the restoration of reputation it was Ronaldo, one of the most feted names in the game, who scored the winning goal.

Ronaldo, whose haunted appearance in the last final still brings a chill to the soul, now has the chance to achieve what Americans would describe as closure.

As in 1998, when he suffered a mental breakdown on the afternoon of the game, he has been troubled by injury.

But he appears much happier in himself. He is likely to start the final despite being withdrawn, suffering what he described as "muscle pains in the lower leg and in my thigh."

"Given his situation before the game, and in order to keep him fresh for the next, we decided to substitute him," said Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian coach.

"But he is not worried and neither are we. When we saw him with that strange haircut I knew he would be playing this match."

Having claimed Ronaldinho's quarter-final winner was a fluke, England would probably have been tempted to disparage Ronaldo's strike as a 'toe-poke'.

It was, but it was just as deliberate, Ronaldo catching the otherwise excellent Rustu Recber unawares as he wriggled through a swarm of defenders.

His sixth goal of the tournament means he now has merely to match Rivaldo and Stefan Klose in the final to win the golden boot.

It is a heartwarming return for the striker who followed his Parisian nightmare with a series of injury problems.

"Winning or losing, my big victory is to play again," he said. "After all the suffering, I feel extremely happy to be able to score goals, to run, to play football. The nightmare is over."

Brazil's 16-goal attack, the most potent in the tournament, now meet the strongest defence.

Germany have only been beaten by Robbie Keane's goal, six hours' play ago, but Senol Gunes, the Turkish coach, said: "Compared to the two games against Turkey the final will be relatively easy for Brazil."

Scolari was far more generous. "It is a strong team with a lot of tradition which deserves respect."

He added: "When I met Rudi Voller [the German coach] at the draw in December it was a strange situation because we had both struggled to qualify.

We hugged and saluted each other and I said: 'maybe we'll meet in the final.' When I see him I'll give him another hug and may the best team win."

Although Germany's teamwork has been impressive most will expect the best team to be Brazil.

Their individual talent was apparent from the second minute when Lucio, a central defender, dribbled down the right wing, cut along the byeline, and won a corner.

Turkey responded with their right-back, Fatih Akyel, going past Roberto Carlos on the flank.

Though his cross was over-hit these exchanges set the tone for an open match which would have been high-scoring but for the quality of the goalkeepers.

Marcos was first to excel, diving to his right after 19 minutes to punch away Ozalan Alpay's header following a more accurate cross from Fatih.

A minute later Rustu was in action, saving from Cafu after Rivaldo and Ronaldo had combined to set up their captain.

He then made an outstanding double-save, parrying Rivaldo's fierce drive then blocking Ronaldo's point-blank follow-up.

A pattern had been established with Brazil controlling the midfield but Turkey dangerous on the break.

A wonderful pass from Basturk almost released Hakan Suker but he delayed and Cafu cleared; Rivaldo brought another fine save from Rustu then shaved the post; the keeper also saved bravely at the feet of both Ronaldo and, fearlessly, Edilson.

The half finished with Ronaldo having a contretemps with Bulent Korkmaz.

He later claimed the Galatasaray defender had struck him after the pair had grappled for the ball.

"He stepped on me and I felt him hit me on my head," said Ronaldo. "That made me very angry. I was furious."

He was the wrong man to rile.

Four minutes after the break Marcos gathered a Roberto Carlos back-pass and threw swiftly to Gilberto Silva.

He made ground on the left before slipping a pass to Ronaldo who glided past Fatih and, as a pack of defenders closed in, stabbed the ball beyond Rustu.

It should have been the first of several but Edilson squandered a sublime pass from Ronaldo and was then selfishly ignored when better placed by Rivaldo.

In between Kleberson wasted a clear opening then Luizao, offered the chance by Cafu's cross, proved unable to repeat the stunning overhead kick he had demonstrated in training on Tuesday.

Turkey, with Muzzy Izzet making his World Cup bow, rallied and Brazil gradually drew back into defence.

Had it not been for the alert reflexes of Marcos they would have paid for this as Hakan Suker hit an over-the-shoulder volley reminiscent of David Platt's 1990 famous World Cup winner against Belgium.

Instead Brazil went onto their third final in succession.

Cafu, a winner in 1994 and loser in 1998, will become the first person to play in three finals, a feat which eluded even Pele.

Turkey's disappointment was offset by a sense of achievement.

"We came to make an impact in the festival and we have achieved that goal," said Gunes. He added: "Next time..."

After this World Cup no one would dismiss his pledge.

The revolution may ultimately have been crushed this time but the ancient regime cannot rest easy.

- INDEPENDENT

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