The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 26

2 1 Sport The Guardian Wednesday June 17 1998 Group Brazil 3 Morocco 0 Brazil in carnival mood David Lacey in Nantes Cesar Sampalo 4, Boyd og) 73 Vferi 10, Baggio (pen) 85 Attendance: 60,000 Attendance: 31,800 IN THE World Cup, so the coaches keep saying, no game is easy. But when Brazil are prepared to AttndanC 29 750 Attendance 37.500 YdWW Ronaldo 9, Rivaldo 45, Bobolo 50 KSHt'W Morocco Norway Austria SGUKSl Scnd3ZZ tBMmAUjMjgS Morocco -jfaSrL Cameroon A Pts HL A PtS iSaiS A PtS Paraguay .0 Bulgaria Attendance: 27,650 Belgium turn on any sort of style, some appear rather easier than others. Last night, for instance, the favourites eased their way past a far from undistinguished Morocco team in the Stade de la Beaujoire to win Group A and reach the knock out phase of the tournament with the air of men who were still waiting for the real World Cup to begin. In the second round they will meet the runners-up from Group at the Pare des Princes in Paris, a prospect which Italy and Chile will be equally anxious to avoid. Having had the better of a 2-2 draw with Norway, Morocco might have been ex pected to provide Brazil with a reasonably stiff challenge.

In the event all the champi ons had to consider last night was when to call off the hunt for goals. Konaidos tirst goal in a World Cup he was in the squad in 1994 but did not play, and as holders Brazil did not have to qualify this time enabled his team to begin coasting through the game from an early stage. Two more, from Rivaldo and Be-beto either side of half-time, threatened to turn the evening into a rout but the winners were content to leave it there. Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto and Leonardo inspired last night's victory through a quality of passing and movement which, in the case of the second and third goals, made the act of scoring a formality. Morocco are neat passers and good runners off the ball, but last night they made little impression on a defence which remains Brazil's underlying strength.

The Moroccans thought of trying to intimidate their opponents, and how Said Chiba avoided a yellow card in the first half after leaving a set of studs high up on Ronaldo's left thigh only the Russian referee Nikolai Levnikov knew. For Brazil's supporters the World Cup has already become a carnival. The samba-drumming hordes flock from city to city united by the hope, no, the knowledge, that their team will again carry all before them. The players cannot afford the luxury of such an assumption although last night there was little doubt about who the winners would be. After eight minutes a combination of Ri-valdo's quick lob forward and Ronaldo's acceleration saw Brazil take the lead.

Surging past the defence, Ronaldo allowed the ball to bounce be fore driving it into the left- hand corner of the net for his 27th goal in 37 internationals. The one occasion Morocco breached the middle of Brazil's defence they were frustrated by a foul. Nine minutes Hassler Saudi Arabia 0 Denmark 1 Rleper 68 Attendance: 38, 140 France Dugarry 35. (ssa (og) 78, Henry 90 South Africa Attendance: 55,077 South Africa Denmark 0 South Africa Saudi Arabia A PtS France Denmark JmXL. South Korea 1 Ha Seok-Ju 28 Mexico 3 Pelaez 51, Hernandez 75, 84 Attendance: 37,588 Holland .0 Belgium 0 Holland South Korea 5 nouana XftS Mexico J2L.

Belgium South Korea jt22t A Pts Attendance: 75.000 Mexico JSr Spain Hierro21. Raul 47 2 3 Nigeria Adepoju 24, Lawal 73, Oliseh 79 Attendance: 33.257 Nigeria Bulgaria "aMt" Spain Bulgaria Nigeria A PtS jW Xc3 JkL Finals first Ronaldo is swamped by team-mates after opening his World Cup account against Morocco Brazil Cafu Aldair Taffare! Junior Balano Cesar Sampaio Leonardo Ronaldo Hadda England 2 Shearer 42, Scholes 90 Tunisia Attendance: 54.587 tion as Bebeto exchanged passes with Leonardo before laying the ball out to Cafu on the right. His low centre found Rivaldo striding through the defence to clip a second goal past Driss Ben-zekri despite the goalkeeper getting his hands to the shot. Four minutes into the second half Abdelilah Saber, under pressure from Ronaldo, trod on the ball near the left-hand touchline, a bad move. Ronaldo sped away and set up a simple third goal for Bebeto.

SUBSTITUTIONS Brazil: Derive tor Cesar Sampaio, 68min: Edmundo for Bobelo, 72; Demjson for Rivaldo 88. Morocco: Abrami for Saber. 76; Amzino lor Chiba. 76; El Khattabl for Hadda. 89.

BOOKED Brazil: Cesar Sampaio. Bianto. Morocco: Madda. Chiba. REFEREE: Levnikov (Russia).

Romania 1 Ilia 45 Colombia Attendance: 37.572 Chippo El Hadrioul Rossi Colombia (Morocco Bonzekrl T.il,fi..,-...i,!-T.Mr;, -i jitrof-v Tunisia Enoland Blatter confronts referees over lack of toughness the all-clear Romania Tunisia Colombia jgd England Roberto Carlos Ounga Rivaldo Bebeto Basslr Chiba Hadji Tahar Naybet Saber three players have been dismissed: Bulgaria's Anatoli Nankov was the first, against Paraguay, followed by Ha Seok-Ju of South Korea against Mexico and Holland's Patrick Kluivert against Belgium. Blatter is also unhappy about time-wasting by goalkeepers, who are supposed to clear the ball within six seconds of gaining possession. "The goalkeepers are keeping the ball longer than allowed and I have not seen one referee penalise them," he said. Fifa yesterday defended the referee of England's natch against Tunisia after claims that he compromised himself by dining with a Football Association official on Sunday night. Lancaster Gate's referees' assessor Ken Ridden spent the evening in the company of the Japanese official Masayoshi Okada in a Marseille hotel.

But Fifa's communications director Keith Cooper denied impropriety, explaining that Ridden is also an official of the world body. "He was doing his job as a Fifa official, not as an FA official," he said. Argentina 1 Batistula 28 Japan 0 Attendance: 33,400 Jamaica 1 Earte45 Croatia 3 Slanic 27. Prosineckl 53, Suker 69 Attendance: 33.053 Japan Croatia Argentina Jamaica Argentina Croatia Japan Jamaica Group winners Group Group winners Group runners-up Game 6 Game 7 winners 3RD4TH PLACE PLAY-OFF ROUND Yugoslavia 1 Mihailovic 73 Iran Attendance: 30.392 ESSESmSZSHD. Germany 2 M6llQr 9, Klinsmann 65 United States Attendance: 43,875 Germany XSjj United States Germany Iran United States Yugoslavia SECOND Brazil Group Group runners-up Group A Group winners Group Group runners-up Group QUARTER Game 1 winners Game 2 Game 4 winners Game 3 FINALS Game A Game ytW JKKL before half-time Salaheddine Bassir's pass released Youssef Chippo but as he ran on to the ball a nudge from Cesar Sam-paio knocked him off balance and an air shot was followed by a Brazilian booking.

Stoppage time at the end of the half produced a typical piece of Brazilian improvisa- Bra 56 4 3 4 10 5 2 Mor 44 0 8 3 25 2 2 Possession Attempts on target Attempts off target Corners Fouls Offsides Bookings gets dashed after damaging knee ligaments in training. Evans, who has Welsh parents, joined Bafana Bafana only last week as the third choice when Fulham's Andre Arendse suffered cartilage damage. Bloenitontein Simon Gopane now takes Evans's place. South Africa's captain Phil Masinga, once of Leeds, now with Bari, is struggling with a badly bruised ankle and is unlike to be fit to face Denmark in tomorrow's Group game in Toulouse. However, Ajax's Benni McCarthy, rated doubtful after injuring his ankle against France on Friday, has been declared fit.

Australia will bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals if England's chances are undermined by hooliganism. The Soccer Australia commissioner George Negus said a bid for the 2010 finals had been planned but bringing the campaign forward would now be considered. "If England has no chance we could bump up our bid by four years," said Negus. "If Fifa said it had opened the door for 2006, why should we not put our hand up? We have nothing to lose." Bergkamp sacrifice a further spin to the tackles from behind be sanctioned as serious foul play." Fifa's referees committee, headed by the world body's vice-president David Will, instructed officials on how Rttforee Red Yellow card card A Rahman Al Zeid (S Arab) Bonkoe (Aull Collina (It) Bolqola (Mor) Bouchardoau (Nigt Baharrnast (US) Casfrilh (Arc) A-Y Lim Keo Chong IMri) Lovniko (Rus) Okada (Japan) Rczende do Fre4las (Br) Vagner (Hungary) Garcia Aranda (Sp) Molo Peroirp (Por) Van der Endo (Nolh) Gonzalez Chavez (Par) A Teada Noriega (Peru) Un-Praserl IThai) to apply the rule before the tournament began. They were warned that all tackles from behind were not automatic sending-off offences.

After 18 matches only EE GETTING jBBEARS that Thomas Bb Hassler, the influential Germany midfielder, would miss the rest of the World Cup were dispelled yesterday when the initial diag nosis of torn ankle ligaments was reduced to a sprain. Hassler sustained a serious foot injury at the end of 1996 and Germany's manager Berti Vogts was concerned that ligaments had been dam aged in the same left ankle during the 2-0 win over the United States, But after returning to their Nice training base from Paris in the early hours Hassler was given the all-clear and there was no need for him to undergo an X-ray as originally planned. Hassler, Jens Jeremies (an kle) and Jilrgen Kohler (bruised calf) were absent from yesterday's light train ing session but should all be fit to face Yugoslavia in Lens on Sunday. A few miles along the Cote d'Azur, Holland's Arsenal striker Dennis Bergkamp sacrificed a morning off, spending it hard at work as he strove for fitness for the Group match against South Korea in Marseille on Saturday. While his Dutch team mates took to the golf course or tennis court, or browsed the boutiques of Monte Carlo, Bergkamp was sweating it out.

"I need it," he said. "But feel good. It's going well." Having lost Patrick Klui- vert for two matches after his red card against Belgium, Holland need Bergkamp back fully fit after six weeks out with a hamstring injury. Whereas Bergkamp looks certain to play some part this weekend, Paul Evans, the former Leeds United goalkeeper called up by South Africa, has had his World Cup ambitions Keith Anderson on ball of confusion over SPARE a thought for the men in the middle. Before the World Cup kicked off last Wednesday it had been expected referees would paint the town red; instead they have shown restraint and the games have flowed.

But they have erred. Sepp Blatter, newly-ap-pointcd president of Fifa, is unhappy they are not enforcing the tough stance they have been told to take on tackles from behind. Officials have been ordered to send off a player if he endangers the safety of an opponent with such a foul but Blatter said yesterday: "They are not applying the ban on tackles from behind. It's not up to them to decide how fouls should be interpreted. There have been tackles from behind that deserved red cards." His sentiments were echoed by Michel Platini, the French organising committee president, who said a solution would be to rely on professionals.

"I believe in professional referees and I believe in former players becoming professional referees," the former international said. Blatter intends to approach the referees directly, although he is likely to run into opposition from them; they have been told by the game's rule-makers, the International Board, that a perfectly-executed tackle from behind remains legal. Under the new rule the IB states: "A tackle from behind which endangers the safety of an opponent must winners Group winners runners-up Group runners-up winners Group winners runners-up Group runners-up FINALS ESSSBaEESaHl winners Game 5 Game 8 winners Game winners Game winners. "THE LADS ARE IN TOUCH Losers of first seml-linal Losers ol second seml-llnal Winner of first semi-final Winner of second semi-final WITH THEIR ETERNAL ESSENCE." See Friday's paper FINAL 5L.