WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Exasperated Sweden Does a Quiet Boil : Group B: Scandinavians offer a calm and frank explanation for their woes: bad weather, bad officials, bad defense.

Unseasonable weather, unreasonable officials and a decidedly unimpressive performance by defender Patrik Andersson all combined to force the Swedes to temporarily stray from their national trait known as jantelagen, a certain modesty and extreme humility.

After Sunday’s 2-2 tie against Cameroon, the Swedish team wasn’t happy with the three aforementioned perceived problems and said so, using polite but blunt words. No trash talk, mind you. Just a certain measure of disappointment that might seem like whining if the Swedish players hadn’t been so matter of fact and calm.

The weather was, of course, beyond control. The temperature at the Rose Bowl was in the low 90s when the game started at 4:30 in the afternoon. But it was no sauna, like the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., on Saturday for the United States-Switzerland game.

“It was quite hot and it was quite tough for us,” defender Joachim Bjorklund said.

Said forward Martin Dahlin: “The first 30 minutes was terrible and after that it was OK.”

Goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli said it was an unusual start time for them. “We don’t play at this time of day--we play always in the evening when it isn’t so hot,” he said. “So the Cameroon players had an advantage.”

Cameroon Coach Henri Michel, noticing the problems Sweden had in the heat, felt it was a benefit for his team because it usually plays and practices in hot conditions.

But even one of Michel’s players disagreed with that notion, scoffing at the heat excuse.

“It’s a bit of an easy excuse for Sweden to say they were suffering from the sun,” Cameroon goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell said. “It’s not going to get any cooler. They better get used to it. Everybody else is playing in it.

“Many of the players of Cameroon’s team play in European clubs week in and week out. So for many many weeks before World Cup, we have been playing in a European climate, not in the climate of our native country.”

But what really bothered the Swedish team were two of the officials--referee Noriega Tejada of Peru and linesman Douglas James of Trinidad and Tobago. In the 31st minute, Andersson botched a clearing attempt and Marc Vivien Foe blocked it and chipped it across to David Embe, who scored, after Ravelli had committed.

The Swedes protested, saying that Cameroon was offside. The goal stood and the score was tied, 1-1.

“It looked like that decision at first was that it wasn’t a goal and then he (the referee) asks him (the linesman) and says it is a goal, then that is a little strange,” Ravelli said.

Swedish Coach Tommy Svensson also disagreed with the call. Speaking with Swedish journalists he said: “The referee was not impressive.” He then called the linesman a “ pajas .”The word pajas apparently is a cross between a clown or a joker, according to a Swedish translator.

Svensson was kinder to Andersson, who visibly struggled the whole game and committed miscues on both goals. The second came in the 47th minute when a long pass floated over Andersson’s head and he turned the wrong way. Ravelli then had no chance against Francois Omam-Biyick, who put Cameroon ahead 2-1.

“The second goal was a miscue by Patrik,” Svensson said. “He was probably surprised. It looked like Patrik got the situation under control, but it was a miscommunication between two Swedish players.”

Said Ravelli: “I thought he should make the ball, as I said before. It was a very good ball. It was hard for me to do anything.”