Odds revised on dream finalists

The ODDS against the dream final pairing, as perceived by the French organisers of the World Cup, were being revised yesterday following the elimination of Argentina and Germany in Saturday's quarter finals.

Argentina, the most heavily backed team since the championship began, left Paris in something akin to a state of numbed shock after being caught out by Dennis Bergkamp's sublime skill in the last minute of a 2-1 defeat by Holland.

And the tremors of the afternoon's events in Marseilles, were still reverberating around Lyon when Croatia, unsung by all except a tiny band of supporters accompanying the team, embarked on an emphatic 3-0 success over a depleted German team.

The consensus in yesterday's French press is that it smoothes the way to for a France-Brazil final next Sunday, an assessment which may not be endorsed universally.

Daniel Passerella, the Argentinian coach, manager, had recovered his composure sufficiently overnight to warn of difficult times ahead for Brazil when they encounter the Dutch in the first semi-final at Marseilles tomorrow evening.

"Holland are very strong in midfield _ even better that we had expected," he said. "We didn't play well in the second half, but we still had chances to win the game. Brazil may have discovered something in our game to help them on Tuesday, but it's still going to be hard for them."

For Passerella, the man who identified Argentinian defiance for so long as a player, it was the last, sad hurrah. Over a weekend which saw Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Costacurta, and Giussepe Bergomi and possibly, Paulo Maldini quit as Italian players, the Argentinian coach announced that he was going departing his job as scheduled, at the end of a four-year reign.

Berti Vogts was echoing Passerella's warnings for France in the second semi-final on Wednesday after watching in pained silence the destruction of his defence in the final quarter of their game against Croatia. On a day when three players Arthur Numan (Holland), Ariel Ortega (Argentina) and Christian Woerns (Germany) _ were added to the record number of those red carded in the championship, the new rules as implemented by referees again dominated much of the post-match discussion.