World Cup Weather Becomes Hot Topic : Soccer: Temperatures and humidity expected to affect play at many of the nine venues.

Remember the way Johnny Carson used to set up his audience by saying something like, “Today, it was so hot . . . ,” and the audience would shout back, “How hot was it?” and Carson would be off and rolling with a string of hot-weather humor?

Well, it’s no joke to the World Cup folks.

At Chicago and several other locations around the nation where the teams and fans have gathered, one topic was on everyone’s mind Wednesday as temperatures soared into the 90s, often with humidity to match.

Is the heat/humidity going to ruin the soccer?

The vast majority of the 52 World Cup matches, starting with Friday’s opener here between Germany and Bolivia, are being played in the early afternoon to accommodate European television. That’s fine for armchair potatoes in Brussels and Bonn, but what about the players?

“It will be a handicap for soccer in general,” Italian Coach Arrigo Sacchi said when his team arrived in steamy New Jersey earlier this week.

On the other side of the continent, Brazilian Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was thinking tactics, not temperatures. “The most important thing in this weather is to keep possession of the ball,” he said. “That is imperative.”

There is a belief among the European teams that countries such as Mexico and Brazil will benefit from the heat and humidity, but that theory is not shared by all.

“The heat will not give an advantage to anyone,” Mexico Coach Miguel Mejia Baron said. “They are all great athletes.”

But Brazil defender Leonardo thinks otherwise. “This weather could give us an advantage over our opponents,” he said, “but we would prefer it to be cooler.”

Dallas is perhaps the hottest of all the hot spots, and the Bulgarians arrived early to get used to the heat.

“It takes between 10 and 14 days for players to acclimatize and adapt to these conditions,” said Dimitar Gevrenov, the team’s doctor. “That’s why we came to America two weeks before our first game.

“Without doubt, for teams coming from Europe, the heat and humidity is going to be the biggest concern.”

Bulgaria forward Boncho Guentchev is one player who is feeling the heat. “I can’t explain to you in words how tough these conditions are,” he said. “You have to feel it with your skin.”

Italy’s captain, Franco Baresi, said: “We are preparing to suffer.”

The problem has brought to the surface the players’ need for water during the games. That caused a mini-flap with the Irish, who had believed that the players would not be allowed to drink during games.

Not so, according to FIFA, soccer’s governing body.

“FIFA encourages players to drink,” spokesman Guido Tognoni said, “but they can’t do it in the middle of the field. We won’t allow drink bottles to be thrown onto the field. But it would be stupid not to let them drink in these temperatures.

“They can drink anything they like--water, beer, champagne--just as long as they are on the sideline.”

FIFA had been warned last year what the weather conditions were likely to be in the United States in June and July but chose to keep the schedule that had been agreed upon. The theory was that when Mexico staged the World Cup tournaments of 1970 and 1986, the games were played in the afternoon when the heat was just as intense, yet the players and the quality of play did not suffer.

Dutch Coach Dick Advocaat was philosophical, even though his team has to play at Orlando and Washington, where the heat and humidity are especially miserable.

Asked how long it would take to get used to the conditions, Advocaat said: “A year. We’re used to practicing in the rain, so this sunny weather we enjoy--but not every day and not for five weeks.”