The Tribune...Sports

	S P O R T	Thursday, July 9, 1998
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Traffarel takes Brazil into final
.Marseille, July 8 — Champions Brazil beat the Netherlands 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to reach the World Cup final tonight.
The match ended 1-1 after extra time. Brazil meet either France or Croatia who play the second semifinal at the Stade de France tomorrow. The final is on sunday.
Taffarel was the Brazilian hero with two excellent saves from Phillip Cocu and Ronald de Boer as the champions won the shoot-out.
Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Emerson and Dunga all drove superb spot kicks past the helpless Edwin Van Der Sar...
Ronaldo does the damage when it matters
Ronaldo has proved he is the best player on the planet and is vital to Brazil's continuing World Cup dream. Without him the South Americans would be quite an ordinary team but ...
Brazil win sparks celebrations
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 8 — The normally exuberant Brazilian soccer fans went absolutely wild after their team won a tense, nail-biter of a World Cup semifinal against the Netherlands, 4-3..
Dejected Dutch fans trudge home
AMSTERDAM, July 8 (Reuters) — Dejected Dutch football supporters straggled home in unseasonable drizzle, their World Cup hopes dashed after the Netherlands lost the semifinal to Brazil on penalties...

Brazil's coach Mario Zagallo congratulates Ronaldo after Brazil defeated Holland 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 tie during the semi-final France 98 soccer World Cup match Brazil vs. The Netherlands at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille on Tuesday . AP/PTI

France down Croatia, enter final
Paris, July 8 — Defender Lilian Thuram scored two second half goals tonight as hosts France, reduced to 10 men, beat Croatia 2-1 and reached their first World Cup final...
French look for moral support
PARIS, July 8 (DPA) — Midfielder Robert Pires has asked French President Jacques Chirac to wear the team's blue jersey instead of the suit and tie, as the host team look for all the encouragement they can get en route to making World Cup history for themselves today...
Taffarel silences critics
MARSEILLE, July 8 — Taffarel’s selection as Brazil goalkeeper for the World Cup was greeted with nervous suspicion back home but the veteran was the unsung hero again...
Tendulkar second in Pepsi rating

Traffarel takes Brazil into final
Marseille, July 8 (Reuters) — Champions Brazil beat the Netherlands 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to reach the World Cup final tonight.
The match ended 1-1 after extra time. Brazil meet either France or Croatia who play the second semifinal at the Stade de France tomorrow. The final is on sunday.
Taffarel was the Brazilian hero with two excellent saves from Phillip Cocu and Ronald de Boer as the champions won the shoot-out.
Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Emerson and Dunga all drove superb spot kicks past the helpless Edwin Van Der Sar.
Frank de Boer and Dennis Bergkamp kept it level at 2-2 but Cocu, possibly distracted by being ordered to place the ball properly on the spot, enabled the keeper to save to his left.
Ronald de Boer, needing to score to keep the Dutch in the match, checked on his approach but couldn’t fool Taffarel who went full length to his right to push it to safety.
The match, hailed as the final before the final between two of the tournament’s great attacking sides, only came alive in the second half but then produced a stirring finale.
Ronaldo had opened the scoring after just 24 seconds of the second period of normal time to give Brazil the lead.
The world player of the year had seized on a through ball from Rivaldo and showed great strength and balance to hold off the challenge of Phillip Cocu and slot the ball under Edwin Van Der Sar for his fourth goal of the tournament.
But with only three minutes of normal time remaining Patrick Kluivert finally hit the target, heading home a Ronald de Boer cross unchallenged in the heart of the Brazilian penalty area to send the match into extra time.
The Dutch had scrambled last-minute wins against Argentina in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the second round, and fully deserved their equaliser after pouring forward in the last 15 minutes.
The game never reached the heights neutrals had hoped for but Brazil, after a slow start, showed they would not give up their title without a fight.
The best chance of the disappointing first half came when Boudewijn Zenden beat Debutant ze Carlos in the 29th minute and clipped in a great cross that Kluivert headed over. Kluivert again headed too high in the dying seconds of the half.
After the Brazilian goal the Dutch took a while to regroup and found the champions to be much keener for the fight than they had been in the first half.
But the Brazilian defence was never happy in the air and it was after the lanky Pierre Van Hooijdonk came on as substitute that Kluivert scored. The ac Milan striker had missed three great chances earlier in the match.
Brazil keeper Taffarel had to show great reactions in the 52nd minute to palm clear as Ronald de Boer diverted Kluivert’s header.
Van Der Sar was equally sharp as he raced from his line to smother at the feet of Ronaldo on the hour after a great touch by Bebeto.
The Dutch suffered a blow when they lost Michael Reiziger with a shoulder injury — the Barcelona right back had shut out the overlapping threat of real Madrid’s Roberto Carlos.
The reshuffle, bringing on Aron Winter, caused confusion and allowed Ronaldo a clear run on goal in the 73rd minute. He seemed certain to get his second goal but Edgar Davids made up five metres and put in a great challenge. Ronaldo’s shot bobbled agonisingly wide of the post.
Rivaldo went close in the 78th minute in a goalmouth scramble but Van Der Sar eventually emerged with the ball.
Kluivert then blew a great chance 10 minutes from time when he played a one-two with Van Hooijdonk but blazed high from the edge of the box with just Taffarel to beat.
After the game moved into extra time, Ronaldo shimmied through to the edge of the area and shot hard but Van Der Sar flew to his left to save after five minutes.
Taffarel saved a Van Hooijdonk free kick soon afterwards and Kluivert almost scored his second in the 103rd minute when his left foot shot shaved the far post after he latched on to a huge clearance from defence.
Frank de Boer saved the Dutch with a last minute tackle early in the second period of extra time which stopped Ronaldo getting in a shot as he advanced towards Van Der Sar in the area.

Ronaldo does the damage when it matters
By Sir Geoff Hurst
Ronaldo has proved he is the best player on the planet and is vital to Brazil's continuing World Cup dream. Without him the South Americans would be quite an ordinary team but with him they are good enough to become champions of the world. Ronaldo is such an awesome talent, the Brazilians rely almost totally on him for their attacking inspiration.
He could still win the golden boot for the tournament's top scorer as he has hit the target four times and would already be in the lead if points were awarded for assists.
When Ronaldo is not scoring goals he is creating them for the players around him. Brazilian coach Mario Zagallo must go to bed each night praying his star striker does not get injured because if you take him out of the equation they are not good enough to win the World Cup.
Ronaldo does the damage when it really matters - in the final third of the field. He can be wandering around on the halfway line looking tired and disinterested until he gets a sniff of a goal.
Then the brilliant centre forward explodes into life using his pace, strength and blindingly quick feet to beat defenders and get his shot in.
He had hardly done anything in the semi-final until he ghosted in behind Frank de Boer within seconds of the restart and slotted the ball between the goalkeeper's legs.
This is the hallmark of a truly great goalscorer. Give him one chance and he will take it and his opposite number Patrick Kluivert wasn't quite in the same league for the Dutch.
Kluivert had a good game but needed a few sights of the target before scoring and that was the difference between the teams.
Ronaldo was unlucky not to add to his total twice being derued by superb covering tackles from Edgar Davids and Frank de Boer after blistering runs from deep.
On another day they would have slightly mistimed their challenges and Ronaldo would have been awarded a penalty.
He is undoubtedly the best player in the world and I just hope he lights up the World Cup final and scores the goals he needs to win the golden boot. Once again it was not to be for a talented Dutch side as they just fell at the final hurdle.
The Brazilians seemed to have more belief when they took their penalties and they were all smashed into the top half of the goal giving goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar no chance.
We have already seen the danger of weakly hit spot-kicks but Holland were as guilty as England, as both Philip Cocu and Ronald de Boer failed to get enough power in their shots.
I would have preferred to see them taking longer run-ups and just smashing the ball as hard as they could, because then it takes something special from the 'keeper' to block it.
The Dutch were unlucky to lose after playing so well against Brazil but in the end I felt the whole match was a bit of an anti-climax.
I expected a feast of attacking football but what we saw were two teams fearing defeat.
Holland did become more positive when they fell behind to Ronaldo's predatory goal and deserved to win the game.
Dutch coach Gus Hiddink took a gamble and brought on Pierre Van Hooijdank to bolster the attack and it quickly paid off as Kluivert pulled them level.
With just minutes remaining Van Hooijdonk went down under the challenge of Junior Baiano and the Dutch will feel aggrieved they didn't get a penalty.
I didn't get a great look at it but I have certainly seen spot-kicks awarded for less in this World Cup.
The whole game can turn on these desicions but I prefer to see the referee erring on the side of caution if he is not absolutely sure a penalty should be awarded.
Holland's biggest disappointment was the non-performance of their star player Dennis Bergkamp.
With his Arsenal team-mate Marc Overmars out injured, the Dutch would have been looking to their forward to provide the inspiration in attack.
Unfortunately, he just drifted out of the game and hardly had any impact at all. The few passes he did make went astray and if he had performed, Brazil could have been in real trouble.
World Cup semi-finals are often funny games and often need goal to get them going.
Understandbly both teams are worried about giving away a goal and nerves can often get the better of players.
Both Holland and Brazil are crammed with attacking talent but they seemed to be reluctant to really go on the offensive.
With so much at stake in a World Cup semi-final it is to be expected as no team wants to fall at the final hurdle.
Brazil and Ronaldo have now squeezed past their toughest test and are the red hot favourites to retain their title once more. — PMG

Brazil win sparks celebrations
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 8 (Reuters) — The normally exuberant Brazilian soccer fans went absolutely wild after their team won a tense, nail-biter of a World Cup semifinal against the Netherlands, 4-3 on penalties.
Supporters of the defending World Cup champions burst into spontaneous street parties and horn-honking traffic jams while firecrackers boomed across the country yesterday after goalkeeper Taffarel saved a second penalty to put Brazil into Sunday’s final.
"Taffarel, Taffarel," fans screamed through tears of relief as they ran, hands outstretched, down the beachfront streets of Brazil’s famous carnival city of Rio De Janeiro.
Moments before, their hands were clenched, all eyes glued to televisions and screens set up in bars, offices and on street corners around the city, as they watched in breathless silence.
"It was incredibly tense," a 27-year-old waiter named Antonio said. "Taffarel was absolutely great. I think we’re going to win."
As he spoke, fireworks explosions filled the air while Brazilians sporting green and yellow team colours could be seen dancing through the noise and acrid sulphur smoke.
Rio’s Samba schools in slum neighbourhoods, where soccer is worshipped, kicked into action with scantily-clad dancers throbbing to the irresistible beat of the drums.
In Sao Paulo’s more serious financial district, Brazilians shouting "Five-time champions" and waving banners hung out of cars careening down the wide Paulista Avenue, while another part of the street was blocked off and filled with hundreds of thousands of celebrating residents.
There had been teeth grinding and nervous pacing as the Paulistas sweated out the unbearably close game, which was scoreless at half time.
Brazilians take their soccer very seriously, closing shops, government offices and even the stock exchanges during World Cup matches.
Most radio and television commentators predicted that if Brazil played at the same level, they would probably beat the winner of the France-Croatia semifinal to claim a fifth World Cup title.
"Brazil finally looked ready to be a five times champion," said one radio commentator.
Emotion even overtook the usually sedate capital city of Brasilia, where there were at least two major automobile pileups as residents raced madly home in a state of hysteria.

Dejected Dutch fans trudge home
AMSTERDAM, July 8 (Reuters) — Dejected Dutch football supporters straggled home in unseasonable drizzle, their World Cup hopes dashed after the Netherlands lost the semifinal to Brazil on penalties.
Crowds of fans, who hours before had transformed the capital’s central Leidseplein Square into a waving sea of orange yesterday, dispersed quietly under the watchful eyes of mounted police and riot squads.
Gathered before a giant open-air video screen, the crowd had cheered when the Netherlands’ Patrick Kluivert scored a crucial equaliser in the last five minutes of normal play in Marseille.
But elation turned to despair when the golden goal failed to yield a victory and the team lost to Brazil on penalties.
A high-profile security presence discouraged any violence after the game, the police said.
"There have been no major incidents," Amsterdam police spokesman Arie Zandbergen said.
A Rotterdam police spokesman said three persons had been arrested in the port city for relatively minor offences.
"Of course people are frustrated after our boys lost, but we’ve only noted a few cases of damage to public property," Maurice Lenferink said.
But in a few Amsterdam bars just a short walk away from Leidseplein, some fans prepared to party the night away.
At the Cane do Brasil and Brasil music Bar, scantily clad women gyrated to a Samba beat on the street as disappointed Dutch supporters looked on.

Tendulkar second in Pepsi rating
CHANDIGARH, July 8 — Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva surged to the top of the batting table in the Pepsi world cricket ratings for one-day internationals while his compatriot Upul Chandana took the first place among the bowlers.
De Silva heads the batting standings with 9516 points, followed by India's Sachin Tendulkar (8692 points) in the second spot and another Sri Lankan Marvan Atapattu (8566 points) in third place.
England's new captain Alec Stewert occupies the fourth berth in the batting standings with 6234 points with his fellow-countryman Nick Knight fifth on 6039 points.
Indian vice-captain Ajay Jadeja is at the sixth place with 5943 points. India heads the country-wise break-up with six batsmen among the top 20. Ninth-placed Gangan Khoda (4758 points) 12th-ranked Mohammed Azharuddin (4241 points), 13th placed Saurav Ganguly (3812 points) and 16th placed Robin Singh (3416 points) are the other Indians in the batting list.
Sri Lanka and Kenya have four batsmen each among the top 20, followed by England and New Zealand (two each). One South African and a Bangladeshi batsman complete the list.
Leg-spinner Chandana is atop the bowling list with 9467 points while Bangladesh's Khaled Mahmud is second on 8500 points.
South African pace ace Allan Donald (7600 points) and Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya (7523 points) are lying third and fourth, respectively, followed by Indian medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar ( 7135 points) in fifth place.
Indian also top the country-wise break-up in bowling with five men among the top 17 who meet the qualifying criterian of five wickets during the current season.
Besides Agarkar, the other Indians among the top-ranked bowlers are sixth placed Anil Kumble (6729 points), seventh-ranked Venkatesh Prasad (6617 points), 12th ranked Harbhajan Singh (4914 points) and 17th placed Robin Singh (2224 points)
Four Sri Lankans, three Englishmen, two bowlers each from Kenya and Bangladesh and one South African complete the select bowling list.BATTING
(Qualifying condition 100 runs)
Sr. Player Team Points

No.
1. De Silva Sri 9516
Aravinda
2. Tendulkar Ind 8692
3. Atapattu Sri 8566
4. Stewart Eng 6234
5. Knight NV Eng 6089
6. Jadeja Ind 5943
7. Astle Nzl 5654
8. Ranatunga Sri 5177
9. Khoda GK Ind 4758
10. Cronje SA 4421
11. Jayasuriya Sri 4265
12. Azharuddin Ind 4241
13. Ganguly Ind 3812
14. Hitesh Modi Ken 3636
15. Amin-Us-Is Bng 3521
16. Robin Singh Ind 3416
17. Ravindu Shah Ken 3229
18. Odumbe M. Ken 3189
19. Young Nzl 2974
20. Tikolo S. Ken 2954

BOWLING
(Qualifying condition 5 wickets)
Sr. Player Team Points
No.
1. Chandana Sri 9467
2. Khaled Mahmud Bng 8500
3. Donald SA 7630
4. Jayasuriya Sri 7523
5. A. Agarkar Ind 7135
6. Kumble Ind 6729
7. Venkatesh Ind 6617
8. Ealham M. Eng 6002
9. Croft Rdb Eng 5774
10. Gough Eng 5534
11. Mohd Rafi Bng 5167
12. Harbhajan Singh Ind 4914
13. Tikolo S. Ken 4763
14. Muralitharan Sri 4323
15. Sheikh Mohd. Ken 3100
16. Dharmasena Sri 2992
17. Robin Singh Ind 2224

France down Croatia, enter final
Paris, July 8 (Reuters) — Defender Lilian Thuram scored two second half goals tonight as hosts France, reduced to 10 men, beat Croatia 2-1 and reached their first World Cup final.
They play Brazil on July 12 at the Stade de France in what will be the first final between the hosts and reigning champions.
Suffering a goal drought in their last two matches, all France had wondered who was going to make the country’s dreams come true by hitting the back of the net at the Stade de France.
Parma defender Thuram was the unexpected answer. His strikes in the 47th minute, to equalise a goal seconds earlier by Davor Suker, and in the 70th were the first international goals of his career.
Defender Laurent Blanc, scorer of France’s second round golden goal, was sent off in the 74th minute for pushing Slaven Bilic in the face, in what looked a harsh decision.
While the first half was lacking a real spark, the match exploded almost as soon as Spanish referee Jose Maria Garcia-Aranda blew the whistle after the break.
Suker took 28 seconds to blast the ball home and join Italian Christian Vieri and Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta as the tournament’s top scorers with five goals.
Aljosa Asanovic laid on the long, defence-splitting pass for Suker to control and rifle in left-footed. Thuram had played him onside but was soon to make amends.
Suker’s was the first goal France had conceded in open play in the tournament, and only their second overall after a first round penalty converted by Denmark’s Michael Laudrup.
The Croat supporters in the Stade de France were still celebrating when, one minute and four seconds after Suker had scored, Thuram grabbed his first.
Youri Djorkaeff, much criticised for failing to turn on the style in France’s World Cup matches, laid on the through ball that Thuram rammed home without hesitation.
That was France’s first goal in regular time since the first round — they won the second round clash with Paraguay on a golden goal and the quarter-final wth Italy on penalties.
The match came alive and Thuram made it 2-1 by blasting home left-footed past the diving Ladic after Thierry Henry sent him through.
At half time it had probably been the Croats who could feel happier after weathering early France pressure and coming back into the game near the break.
France had replaced injured midfielder Christian Karembeu, who had looked lively for the first 20 minutes, with young striker Henry in the 31st minute.

Henry created a good chance in the 60th, with Ladic failing to hold his shot but Zidane unable to pounce on it.
Croatia took off captain Boban, who looked to be carrying an injury, in the 65th minute and brought on Silvio Maric. Three minutes later, France replied by switching strikers, with Stephane Guivarc’h off and David Trezeguet on.
Midfielder Zinedine Zidane had the first scoring chance for France after a superb move in the fourth minute.
Youri Djorkaeff raced through the middle, passed the ball to Stephane Guivarc’h who back-heeled it for Zidane to shoot.
But the Juventus player could only direct his shot straight at Croatia goalkeeper Drazen Ladic. Zidane fired another shot over the top in the eighth minute and had a header at goal a minute later.
The atmosphere in the Stade de France for probably the most important international game in the country’s history was intense and the noise was deafening. The Croats faced a tough task settling their nerves in the early stages.
The French had virtually all of the play in the first 15 minutes with Zidane and fellow midfielder Djorkaeff causing the Croats problems with dangerous runs and clever passing.
French captain Didier Deschamps was directing much of the play in the middle of the park. The Croats struggled to win possession and push up towards the French penalty area.
The Croats gave Zidane far too much space and in the 19th minute the midfielder forced Ladic to dive low to his right to save a well-struck shot from 30 metres.
Two minutes later Guivarc’h made the Croat keeper save again when he fired in a fierce free kick from 35 metres out.
With the French adopting pressing tactics, Croatia were forced to hit long balls from deep and forwards Davor Suker and Goran Vlaovic were repeatedly caught offside.
In the 31st minute French coach Aime Jacquet brought on attacking midfielder Thierry Henry for Christian Karembeu who had suffered an ankle injury in an earlier tackle.
But as half time approached Croatia came more in to the game and the French defence was put under pressure for the first time.

Just before half time Croat midfielder Asanovic was shown yellow card for handling the ball.
The game burst into life with two goals in just over a minute and an half at the start of the second half.
After just 28 seconds Croatia took the lead when Suker was put clear in front of goal, after a pass from Asanovic, and showed composure to fire home. Lilian Thuram played Suker onside but he made up for his mistake seconds later.
The Croat fans were still celebrating when France raced up the other end. Thuram dispossessed Zvonimir Boban on the edge of the area, passed to Djorkaeff who slipped the ball back to Thuram. The right back hammered the ball home after one minute and 32 seconds of the half.

French look for moral support
PARIS, July 8 (DPA) — Midfielder Robert Pires has asked French President Jacques Chirac to wear the team's blue jersey instead of the suit and tie, as the host team look for all the encouragement they can get en route to making World Cup history for themselves today.
"More and more supporters are wearing out team colours. Of course you always see the suits and ties in the presidential box, but it would be great to see President Chirac wear the French team strip. He could even wear, say, number 23, " said midfielder Robert Pires.
The French are not as football-crazy as for instance Italians, Spaniards, South Americans — or Croatians, whom they will have to deal with in the semifinal match — but they are warming up to the team rapidly in the final stages of the com-petition.
"France are the favourites and they have one big advantage, they are playing in front of a home crowd. For us, that is a drawback, like climbing Mt. Blanc for you", Croatian coach Miroslav Balzevic told reporters.
France finally aim to overcome their semifinal jinx by getting fourth time lucky after losing in the final four 1958 (Brazil), 1982 and 1986 (both to Germany).
Germany were the expected opponents again, but Croatia took care of the three-times champions in astonishing style on Saturday in the form of a 3-0 quarterfinal rout.
"I am sorry to remind you of certain comments by French players which were made in the expectation of meeting Germany in the semifinals. I am surprised that only (Emmanuel) Petit mentioned Croatia", said Blazevic, who nonetheless likes the underdog image.
The magnitude of Croatia's run so far in France is huge, as they are newcomers to a World Cup as their country in a breakaway from former Yugoslavia a mere six years old. Top star Davor Suker said, "This is the biggest day in Croatian football".

Now they aim for more in a semifinal match which will not see quite the same attacking spirit as yesterday’s game between Brazil and Holland, that although both sides have plenty of skill from players like Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Marcel Desailly on the French side and Zvonimir Boban, Robert Jarni, Aljosa Asanovic and Suker for the Croatians.
Scoring chances are expected to be sparse because the game brings together the two best defensive sides of the competition. France have allowed just one goal in five matches, Croatia two.
That is bad news for the French because after a nine-goal spree in the preliminary round they have managed just one in the two knockout games, the golden goal from defender Laurent Blanc in the round of 16 against Paraguay. In the quarters France beat Italy on penalties.
Croatia scored four in their knockout games and are out for more Wednesday in St. Denis’ Stade de France. Suker already has four in the tournament and Blazevic exactly knows how to create chances.
"I think that the offensive runs by the defenders Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu are a weak spot in the French defence. Having wing backs tends to leave gaps in the line and we should be able to take advantage of that", Blazevic said.
A former coach of French side Nantes, Blazevic there trained French starters Deschamps, Desailly and Christian Karembeu, but he has the deepest respect for playmaker Zidane, whom he rates among the top five players in the world.
Counterpart Aime Jacquet, meanwhile, is also impressed by the Croatians.
"They are formidable opponents, very complete, compact and skillful, Jacquet said, whose main psychological task now is to build up the confidence of his off-target offensive players Stephane Guivarcih and Youri Djorkaeff.
"It is true that the fact that we have not scored many goals is weighing heavily and it could have cost France dearly", said Jacquet, who is busy showing them videos of the chances they created. They simply need to keep a cooler head.

Taffarel silences critics
MARSEILLE, July 8 (Reuters) — Taffarel’s selection as Brazil goalkeeper for the World Cup was greeted with nervous suspicion back home but the veteran was the unsung hero again.
Taffarel saved two Dutch penalties as Brazil won the shoot-out 4-2 following a 1-1 draw in the semifinal.
Penalty shootouts are widely criticised as a lottery but for Taffarel, who plays in a team that is usually on the attack, they provide a rare opportunity to grab the spotlight from superstars such as Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Rivaldo.
In 1994, he was also the hero when Brazil won a shoot-out in the final against Italy and he saved one Italian effort.
As he emerged from the dressing-room, Taffarel resisted the obvious temptation to have a go at the snipers who had said he would be a liability in his third World Cup.
"I don’t want to reply to anybody, I’m not interested in this, it’s not my style," he said. "I think the only person I have to reply to and satisfy is myself."
"Today, thanks to God, we won but it is a victory for everyone, not just for one person. I was relaxed, sincerely. I had a notion that De Boer would go to the right," he said about the fourth penalty from Ronald de Boer that clinched victory.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper, became so fed up with criticism in 1995 that he announced he would never play for Brazil again.
He was upset at comments from Ricardo Teixeira, President of the Brazilian Football Confederation, who blamed him for the Uruguayan goal in the Copa America final which Brazil went on to lose on penalties.
But in 1997, he announced he was prepared to play again and was immediately picked by Brazil coach Mario Zagallo.
In fact, his form at club level — he was playing for Atletico Mineiro in Brazil before the cup — has not been the best and he has made several blunders in the last few months.
There are around half a dozen goalkeepers in Brazil who are of at least the same standard and Zagallo has been under fire for not giving any of them a look-in in warm-up games.
But when it comes to the World Cup, Taffarel has no real rival. He has never made a significant blunder in any of three World Cups in which he has played and on Tuesday was solid throughout the two hours which preceeded the penalty lottery.
It was his 17th game in the World Cup finals, as he and team captain Dunga — who have not missed a Brazilian World Cup finals match since the start of the 1990 competition — broke the record previously held by Jairzinho who played in the 1966, 1970 and 1974 competitions.