WORLD CUP USA ‘94: SEMIFINALS : Pressure Is a Definite Hang-Up to Parreira : Brazil: Coach feels heat from a nation that has won three World Cup titles, but none since 1970.

Carlos Alberto Parreira has made it this far, to the semifinal round of the World Cup, by a simple strategic maneuver, a slight stroke of coaching genius.

Every hotel he checks into, Parreira instructs the front desk operator to block all phone calls.

“Then,” Parreira says, “I am at peace.”

The messages do pile up, however.

“Excuse me, Mr. Parreira, but a Mr. Pele called for you. He says he has six lineup changes he would like to propose, at your convenience.

“Also, someone claiming to be the president of Brazil called. A Mr. Itamar Franco. He sends his regards--and suggests starting a third forward in the rematch with Sweden.

“Oh, and your mother called. She would like you to start Ronaldo, if it is not any bother.”

As manager of the New York Yankees of international soccer, Parreira is, if not the most embattled man in this World Cup, then a strong No. 2 behind Italy’s coach, Arrigo Sacchi. Because he is entrusted with the most sacred tradition in the sport, and because the Brazilians haven’t won the event in 24 years, Parreira approaches his daily news briefings like a man stepping up to the electric chair.

And, in many ways, Parreira claims, the two positions are quite similar.

“It is a death sentence sometimes,” Parreira said Monday in a session with the English-speaking media at a Fullerton hotel.

“Look, being a football coach is my life. It’s a pleasure. But being the coach of the Brazilian team in the World Cup . . . is something else.

“It’s not a pleasure. It’s effort. It’s compromise. It’s a commitment.

“You cannot have fun in this position. Only if you succeed and win the World Cup. Then it will be a full pleasure. But you’ve got to win the World Cup.”

Brazil has failed to do this since 1970, which is why Brazilian World Cup coaches are discarded like World Cup programs. There’s a new one every four years.

Before Parreira, there was Sebastiao Lazaroni, who had the audacity to play a sweeper in Italy in 1990. Pele, sort of a free-lance ombudsman of Brazilian football, was horrified, huffing that, “This was not Brazil--Brazil always plays three forwards” and predicted Lazaroni would lose “as soon as we play a good team.” Brazil lost, 1-0, to Argentina in the second round and Lazaroni was cooked.

Tele Santana managed to survive both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, but not without taking a three-year sabbatical in between. Claudio Coutinho didn’t lose a game in the 1978 tournament, but because Argentina advanced to the final ahead of Brazil on goal differential, he was politely advised not to re-apply for same position.

How powerful is the soccer press in Brazil?

Powerful enough that one of its own, a highly opinionated newspaper columnist named Joao Saldanha, was actually appointed to coach Brazil’s 1970 World Cup team. “He was such a critic,” says Francisco Marcos, Brazilian team liaison, “that they decided to make him coach.”

Saldanha never coached in the World Cup, however. He brought the team through qualifying, but when he announced he was considering cutting Pele from the final roster--too out of shape, Saldanha charged--the Brazilian soccer federation fired him out of fear of national revolution.

Mario Zagala replaced Saldanha, agreed to let Pele play and Brazil won the 1970 World Cup. Pele was named most valuable player.

A month in the life of Carlos Alberto Parreira:

--After Brazil tied Sweden, 1-1, in group play, Pele wrote in USA Today that Brazil “couldn’t play any worse” and advised Parreira to replace six of his starters.”

--Itamar Franco, the president of Brazil, also suggested Parreira shake up his lineup.

--So did Parreira’s mother, who is eager to see 17-year-old forward Ronaldo, the so-called future of Brazilian soccer, play.

Joked Parreira: “She’s easy on me. It’s only one change she wants to make.”

Parreira’s good humor amid the maelstrom caused one American journalist to ask how he can remain so calm at a time like this.

“On the outside, yes,” Parreira said with a laugh. “But on the inside, I am boiling, my friend.”