Brazil’s Victory Is a Keeper

If Brazil’s samba was missing its usual rhythmic flair Tuesday, it hardly mattered in the end. Because when the semifinal dance with the Netherlands at Stade Velodrome was over, Brazil was back where it always seems destined to be: in the World Cup final.

And the Netherlands was where it also seems destined to be: with the other disappointed hopefuls.

The defending champion Brazilians withstood a late tying goal by Patrick Kluivert, then prevailed in the shootout, thanks to two saves by underrated goalkeeper Taffarel, recording a 1-1 (4-2) victory that sent their fans out into the cool summer night with hips swaying and horns blaring.

Brazil, a four-time champion, advanced to Sunday’s final at Stade de France against the winner of today’s semifinal between France and Croatia.

“I felt we deserved a moment of joy,” said Taffarel, who often has been criticized as his team’s weak link but performs well under pressure. “Brazil now can be very proud of the team. We have a great force behind us for the final. We are very ready.”

Brazilian Coach Mario Zagallo, whose team defeated the Netherlands in the 1994 quarterfinals, 3-2, and won the final against Italy at the Rose Bowl on penalty kicks, was moved to tears at the end of the game. For most of the scoreless first half, it was a slog through the midfield and didn’t come close to being the exciting, skillful contest that had been anticipated. But in the sweet aftermath of victory, such thoughts were fleeting.

“In Brazil right now, people are celebrating, but we cannot celebrate yet,” Zagallo said. “We are only going to celebrate at the final, and I am confident we are going to win the final.”

They won Tuesday when Taffarel dived to his right to save a rolling shot by Dutch midfielder Ronald de Boer, the Netherlands’ fourth shooter in the best-of-five procedure. Brazil and the Netherlands alternated successes for two rounds, with Brazil’s Ronaldo, the Netherlands’ Frank de Boer, Brazil’s Rivaldo and the Netherlands’ Dennis Bergkamp finding the net.

Brazil’s Emerson led off the third round by lifting a shot up and over Edwin van der Sar, but Taffarel went to his left to parry a waist-high shot by the Netherlands’ Philip Cocu. Brazilian captain Dunga’s rising shot soared over Van der Sar for a 4-2 lead, and Taffarel’s save on Ronald de Boer’s shot touched off roars from the Brazilian fans among the crowd of 54,000 and moans of despair from the long-suffering Dutch.

“I felt good before taking the penalty [shot], but I didn’t wait long enough,” De Boer said. “If I had waited a second longer, I would have already seen the goalkeeper go to one corner and I would have gone to the other corner.

“At this moment, I don’t really feel like playing the match for third place [Saturday at Parc des Princes in Paris]. We could have won. Now, the dream is over.”

That dream was more like a nightmare in the first half.

The Netherlands, which had only two days’ rest after its quarterfinal victory over Argentina--Brazil had one more day to recover after its triumph over Denmark--didn’t generate much offense. Brazil, hampered by Frank de Boer’s superbly tight guarding of Ronaldo, produced a few more chances, but the Dutch defense held firm, despite the absence of suspended defender Arthur Numan. And the Brazilian defense, much maligned, did a solid job on Bergkamp, rendering him almost invisible.

“We were so close,” said Bergkamp, who was shadowed by Junior Baiano most of the game. “We are disappointed, of course. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Ronaldo’s brilliance could not be dimmed for the entire game. He scored Brazil’s goal less than half a minute after the second half began, concluding a brilliant run by taking a superb cross from Rivaldo, trapping it with his left foot and again using his left foot to flick it underneath van der Saar.

The Netherlands, as it had against Yugoslavia and Argentina, scored in the waning moments. Kluivert, who had missed a dizzying succession of close-range headers, finally found the net in the 87th minute, taking a cross from Ronald de Boer on the right side and nodding it off Taffarel’s hands and into the net.

“It’s a pity we didn’t get to the final, because I think we dominated parts of the game,” Dutch Coach Guus Hiddink said.

Both goalkeepers were sharp in the two 15-minute sudden-death periods, and Van der Sar had help from Frank de Boer in clearing a dangerous close-in chance by Roberto Carlos. Van der Sar helped his own cause with a lunging parry on a wonderful move by Ronaldo, who had eluded Frank de Boer and Aron Winter.

“Basically, we played on instinct,” Zagallo said. “The Netherlands did the same. Fortunately, we repeated what happened in 1994 and repeated our victory. This was a very tense match, but I had a lot of confidence in everybody.”

That confidence was justified.

“We demonstrated that we have great spirit as a group,” said Brazilian midfielder Leonardo, who missed the 1994 final but will get another chance Sunday.

“It’s always very, very nervous, a match like this, and the first half was very difficult for both teams. . . . We’re really happy now. It’s not every day you have a chance to play in the final. When it goes to penalties, nothing is certain, but the important thing is experience.”

And a happy experience it was.