WORLD CUP USA ‘94: SEMIFINALS : Brazil’s Taffarel, Jorginho: The Lonely and the Brave : Soccer: Goalkeeper barely needs to be there, and midfielder never stops.

One runs a marathon every game. The other is not much more than a spectator. One sweats so much that that the field doesn’t have to be watered after he plays. The other could set up an hibachi on the penalty spot and not have to worry about having his barbecue disturbed. One will receive a $120,000 bonus if his team wins the World Cup. So will the other.

Jorginho, Brazil’s peripatetic defender, should demand a double share.

Claudio Taffarel, Brazil’s lonesome goalkeeper, should be thankful that he doesn’t have to buy a ticket to the games.

Jorginho is the hardest working man on Brazil’s defense. He also is the hardest working man on Brazil’s offense.

From his position in the back, he wears a path down the right side of the field that looks after a while like another sideline. At one moment, he has invaded the opponent’s penalty area, lurking near the goal. At the next, he is stealing the ball in the midfield. Look again, and he is at the other end of the field, protecting Brazil’s flank.

When the game is finished, and the Brazilians have won again, it is their famous forwards, Romario and Bebeto, who invariably are asked to take the bows.

But even though their teamwork in this tournament has been magnificent as they have gleefully assisted on each other’s goals, they sometimes need a middle man. In the semifinal game Wednesday at the Rose Bowl against Sweden, it was Jorginho who played that role.

After 80 minutes of futile attacking by the Brazilians, they finally broke through when Bebeto directed a pass from the center of the field, just outside the penalty area, to Jorginho on the right. He crossed the ball in front of the goal to Romario, who headed it into the left side of the net.

“That’s a play that we practice,” Jorginho said later. “We tried it several times today, but it didn’t succeed. We never had the opportunity to get it to Romario in that spot before because they (the Swedish defenders) were too tall. But he was in the perfect position this time.”

He did not say it, but it also was a perfect crossing pass.

Sweden’s goalkeeper, Thomas Ravelli, called it too “hard and wicked” for the defenders to handle.

Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira spoke afterward of his team’s supremacy, emphasizing their 26 shots and nine legitimate scoring opportunities, but that was the only time they converted in their 1-0 victory.

“I was not frustrated, but I was becoming impatient,” Jorginho said. “When you attack and attack and don’t score, you press more. Then, you leave your end of the field open, and that is very dangerous.”

Dangerous is not a word that applied to the Swedes’ offense Wednesday.

Taffarel faced only three shots, none from inside the penalty area, and if any of his stops were worthy of being called a save it might have been because he had to bend over once.

That is not unusual. Before the semifinal, he had only eight saves in five games. When Brazil beat the United States in the second round, the third of his four shutouts, he faced only one shot, none after the 12th minute. He had similar experiences against Russia and Cameroon and even against the Dutch for a half before they fell behind, 2-0, and were forced to attack.

During an exhibition before the World Cup, Brazilian reporters allegedly complained that they were not allowed by security forces to interview Taffarel during a game. The story seemed ludicrous at the time. Not so now. What else does he have to do during a game?

Fearing the Brazilians’ awesome offense, teams tend to go into a defensive shell against them. Those that don’t find Brazil’s underrated defense difficult to penetrate.

Taffarel insisted Wednesday that he does not get bored.

But, asked if he ever felt threatened Wednesday, he thought for a moment and said, “No.”

On the day after games, Parreira makes practices optional for the starters. Taffarel usually goes, to get some work in scrimmages. On one recent morning, Jorginho also went. But not to scrimmage. He ran.