Samba stars look flat-footed

Brazil ... 1 Croatia ... 0Built, no doubt, to last 1000 years there is still a very special resonance to the elegantly -modernised Olympic stadium some 70 years after the Berlin Games. It a place where it is hard not to dwell on the past even on a night when Brazil were again looking to shape what they hope will be a very bright near future.

The World Champions, the records show, have a habit of starting and finishing these tournaments well and another win in an opening game will surely qualify as a good night's work even if the victory might have been achieved in a little more style. With at least two of the players seen as key to a successful defence of their title almost entirely anonymous last night they surely will not regard this win as the brightest of beginnings.

Still, it says something too when you carry the likes of Ronaldo and Adriano for an evening yet still beat a Croatia team containing some quality and many positive characteristics thanks to a moment of brilliance from, in this case, Kaka.

If it was not a great performance by Carlos Alberto Parreira's side there was certainly enough here to suggest that we can expect great things from them over the next few weeks. Even with a couple of their most celebrated stars clearly out of form and, it seems in Ronaldo's case, shape, they exerted an almost majestic control on the game at times.

At the back there remains some work to be done before things look quite as controlled as four years ago but then that side was subtly reshaped over the course of the competition so as to improve things in that department and with only Australia and Japan now standing between them and a place in the second round there will be a few more opportunities for the required fine- tuning.

In the face of what always promised to be a daunting challenge, Croatia adopted an effective approach against the champions with defenders resisting the constant temptation to dive into challenges and often winning possession thanks to fine timing and a great deal of persistence.

Up front Ivan Klasnic was given precious little ball to work with but around, and often slightly behind him, Dada Prso worked tirelessly to disrupt the early stages of the Brazilian build up play. On occasion he showed that he could pose a potent threat to Dida's goal as, in the early stages of the second half, when he turned well and held off Lucio to let loose a fiercely driven strike which the goalkeeper could only gather safely at the second attempt.

On the left flank Marko Babic was a thorn in the side of the South Americans with a succession of darting runs and clever passes inside towards Niko Kranjcar.

The Croatian coach's son, though, found it difficult to exert anything like his usual influence in the face of close attention from Emerson, the Juventus midfielder, who has rarely operated more smoothly just in front of his side's back four.

The possession he won accounted for a good deal of what came Brazil's way through the opening half hour and for the most part he used it very well. Nearby, Ze Roberto provided an easy outlet while both Cafu and Roberto Carlos were as willing as ever to press forward out wide.

The chief danger to Croatia's hopes of a good night lay further forward, however, with Ronaldinho and Kaka both showing from early on that they had brought their box of magic tricks to Berlin.

It was the former looked the more likely to light up the night early on but the latter who actually transformed the course of the contest a minute or so before half-time. Defenders were inevitably drawn to the Barcelona star when he picked up possession around the edges of the Croatian area and more than once he emerged with the ball from the centre of four or more like an escapologist who sheds his chains after what seems like nothing than an exaggerated bout of wriggling.

As in Paris a few weeks ago, however, Ronalidinho seemed incapable of delivering the killer blow, a task left to Kaka as the first half drew near to its conclusion.

Cafu provided the low square ball that set the Milan player for the strike but it was Krancjar's failure to complete his attempted challenge which allowed the his opponent to get in the shot. In the split second the Croat's mistake allowed him, Kaka took a step sideways and sent a delicately curling shot into the top left corner.

With little to lose the Croatians worked hard over the course of the second half to grab an equaliser and the game developed in to open contest in which both sides managed to generate a handful of scoring chances. Only Prso's shortly after the break resulted in Dida being seriously tested, though, and there was always the sense that the Brazilians were the more likely to score again.

Ronaldo certainly never looked to be the one who would find the net and, after his lumbering inactivity prompted Parreira to replace him with Robinbho just short of 70 minutes, his place in the team for Sunday's second outing might be in some doubt. That said, Adriano wasn't much better.

Like his strike partner he managed just one real attempt on goal - a close range effort pushed wide after a neat through ball by the substitute - over the course of the game although such was the quality of the pass that he really should have scored. With enough of their team-mates producing the required goods last night, however, the pair should have sufficient time yet to find their rhythm before the bigger tests ahead.

SUBSTITUTIONS

BRAZIL: Robinho for Ronaldo (69 mins). Subs not used: Cicinho, Cris, Fred, Gilberto, Julio Cesar, Juninho, Luisao, Mineiro, Ricardinho, Rogerio, Silva. Booked: Emerson.

CROATIA: Jerko Leko for Nico Kovac (40 mins), Olic for Klasnic (57 mins). Subs not used: Balaban, Bosnjak, Butina, Didulica, Ivan Leko, Modric, Seric, Tokic, Tomas, Vranjes. Booked: Nico Kovac, Robert Kovac, Tudor.

Referee: Benito Archundia Tellez (Mexico).