Controversy always threatened to spoil all the fun, but, in the end, it took a slapdash refereeing performance, two red cards and allegations as well as admissions of cheating to ignite the World Cup finals.

Rivaldo may not care - happy with the victory secured by his penalty, awarded laughably at the death and which prompted the first of Turkey's sendings-off - but he awakes this morning a self-confessed cheat.

The Brazilian's ridiculous reaction after Hakan Unsal kicked the ball at him in injury-time sparked mayhem; the ball slapped against Rivaldo's thigh, prompting him to collapse and roll around by the corner flag clutching his face.

The Turk, one of three already booked, joined his team-mate Alpay Ozalan in being shown red and will now be suspended for the Costa Rica game.

Neither can quibble with their dismissals, though the Blackburn midfielder was justifiably livid with the Brazilian's play-acting.

"No, the ball did not hit me in the face," confirmed Rivaldo. "But the Turkish player shouldn't have done that in the first place. My experience counts.

"So the ball touched my leg and not my head, and I recognise that it did not hit my face, but the other player was still in the wrong. I said sorry to him, but these things happen in football."

The contest had simmered for 87 minutes before boiling over thanks in no small part to a shoddy display from the officials.

Kim Young-joo was grossly let down by his assistants on numerous occasions, but the suspicion remains that this should be his last match.

With three minutes remaining and Turkey clinging to a point, Rustu Recber's clearance thumped against Luizao's chest and the striker, bearing down on the box, was tugged back outside the area by Alpay but fell inside it.

Young-joo legitimately sent the Aston Villa centre back off but bizarrely awarded what proved to be the decisive spot-kick. "It was never a penalty," added Emre Belozoglu. "We did so well, but all our work was ruined by that."

On the final whistle Turkey's coach Senol Gunes confronted the officials and had to be pulled away by Hakan Sukur.

"There were a lot of wrong decisions, but we are not in a position to judge the referee," Gunes grumbled afterwards.

"We took control of the game, but we could not control the referee. The penalty was outside the area, but other decisions were just as wrong."

In truth, the late explosion of cards was hardly unexpected. Young-joo had appeared in awe of the Brazilians from the start, whistling whenever Ronaldo tumbled under a challenge, whether illegal or not.

Three Turks were booked, with only Alpay's caution for clipping the Internazionale striker's heel worthy of a card.

After putting Turkey under intense pressure early on, Brazil switched off at the back. Yildiray Basturk advanced and feigned to shoot, catching the retreating defenders cold.

His chipped pass skimmed beyond Roque Junior towards the edge of the six-yard box where Hasan Sas, outstripping Cafu, sent a blistering volley through Marcos at the near post.

It was a timely reminder that Brazil's traditional frailties are still prevalent, though so are their strengths.

Parity was restored in a blistering spell after half-time that culminated in Ronaldo connecting with Rivaldo's centre to volley beyond Rustu.

SUBSTITUTIONS

Brazil: Denilson for Ronaldinho (66 mins); Vampeta for Juninho (71); Luizao for Ronaldo (73).

Turkey: Ilhan for Bulent, Umit Davala for Basturk (both 64); Arif Erdem for Tugay (88).

YELLOW CARDS

Brazil: Denilson (73).

Turkey: Akyel (21), Unsal (24), Alpay (44).

RED CARDS

Turkey: Alpay (86), Unsal (90).