WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FINAL : Goalkeeper Is Looking for a Real Job Now : Soccer: Brazil’s Taffarel was dropped by Italian league team before the start of the World Cup.

Now that Brazil’s Claudio Taffarel has been thrust into the storied history of World Cup soccer, he can attend to more mundane pursuits.

Namely, finding a job.

The goalkeeper who won the first World Cup title decided by penalty kicks is unemployed today.

“At the moment, I have no job,” he said. “But beginning (today) I will begin thinking about a new employer.”

Taffarel’s predicament is the result of a poor 1994 season. He began the year with Parma in the Italian league, but was sent to Reggiana. Although he helped the club stun AC Milan, 1-0, Taffarel was cast aside by Reggiana before the World Cup.

There were more than a few in Brazil who wanted Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to dump him too. They wanted Zetti to start over Taffarel because, frankly, he was playing better. It was not the first time the keeper weathered controversy during a World Cup.

In 1990 in Italy, Taffarel’s fiancee, Andrea, who is now his wife, told Brazilian reporters that the goalkeeper was unhappy with the team’s strategy. In Brazil, it amounted to a national scandal. When the Brazilians were eliminated by Argentina in the second round, Taffarel’s complaints were blamed.

By holding steady against Italy on Sunday at the Rose Bowl, Taffarel reserved a place in Brazilian soccer lore. After the teams played to a scoreless draw, Brazil won the title on penalty kicks, 3-2.

Although rarely challenged during the tournament, his moment arrived after 120 exhausting minutes Sunday before 94,194.

How did he prepare for it?

Taffarel put his arm around Gianluca Pagliuca, Italy’s goalkeeper, and told his rival: “The team that wins was predestined to.”

And after Italy’s Franco Baresi blasted the first kick way over the goal, then fell to his knees, Taffarel rushed out of the net to console him.

“Knowing just how much pressure there is on the kicker, and how great a player he was, I told him he still was a great player,” Taffarel said.

The tension mounted after the teams each took three kicks and were tied, 2-2. It might have been a disappointing way to determine a world champion, but it made for high drama.

Italy’s Daniele Massaro stepped to the line, facing Taffarel from 12 yards out. Taffarel committed to his left and knocked it away.

“Since I guessed right, it was easy,” he said.

When Dunga gave Brazil a 3-2 lead with a shot deep to the right corner, Taffarel faced Roberto Baggio. A nation that had waited 24 years for its fourth World Cup title held its collective breath.

“I try to pass all the responsibility on to the kicker,” Taffarel said.

Baggio stepped to the line with the same pressures. Italy was seeking its fourth world championship and he was his country’s only hope of continuing that pursuit.

It was one of the most electrifying players of the World Cup against a goalkeeper who had not done much.

But Taffarel did not even have to move. Baggio launched into the ball as if he wanted to kick a field goal. It sailed over the net, and Taffarel, 28, was able to erase the memories of a frustrating year.

As Baggio sat near where he kicked in disbelief, Taffarel walked by without showing much emotion. But he quickly joined a Brazilian samba line as the players danced around the Rose Bowl in celebration.

“In spite of the penalty kicks, I don’t consider myself the hero of this team,” Taffarel said.

Even though Sunday’s penalty-kick situation has made Taffarel’s career, he was not looking forward to it.

“A lot of luck is involved,” he said.

Pagliuca, his Italian counterpart, agreed: “It all comes down to luck.”

But each goalkeeper said he accepted the fate that led to such a moment in their lives.

And for Taffarel, the tension showed. Three times, he hung on the back of the net before moving into position.

“It was really a way for me to step back and take a little more time to relax and concentrate before I faced the kicker,” he said.

He later called it a difficult situation to endure.

“But the result was just because we played better,” he said.