Cup fever spreads across Brazil

Updated: Wednesday June 26, 2002 01:46 p.m. ET

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -- Feverish celebrations broke out across Brazil on Wednesday as the national soccer team reached the World Cup final for the third consecutive time in their bid for a fifth world championship.

The first reaction to the 1-0 semifinal win over Turkey in Saitama was relief. Ronaldo scored early in the second half, but Turkey kept up the pressure until the final whistle.

After Brazilians caught their breath, shouts of "Penta" -- Fifth in Portuguese -- erupted in bars and on factory floors equipped with big screens.

"The game was one more test for my heart, but I continue to believe in a 'Penta'," said Oseas de Jesus Santos, a parking attendant on Sao Paulo's main strip, Avenida Paulista.

"Only one left," said former national coach Mario Zagallo, whose team lost in the 1998 final to France.

On Sunday in Yokohama, Brazil will face Germany who have won the World Cup three times but have never met the record holding four-time champions in the finals.

"Our big advantage is the power of creativity and that is why I believe in victory," said Carlos Alberto Parreira, who coached Brazil to their last World Cup final win in 1994.

ONE GOAL

"It is good to remember that they (the Germans) have only suffered one goal in the Cup.

"It is a test of individual talent against the powerful German collective."

Brazil's president Fernando Henrique Cardoso celebrated with reporters and fans outside the presidential palace in Brasilia after the match.

"When we have talent and willingness, no one can hold Brazil back," said Cardoso, who is nearing the end of his second four-year term and is barred from running for re-election in October.

Unlike German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is running for re-election in September, Cardoso will not go to Japan for the final.

He also declined to say if he would decree a public holiday on Monday if Brazil won the tournament.

EXPECTATIONS SURPASSED

Few in the land of soccer greats like Pele and Garrincha expected their team to reach the final after struggling to qualify.

Brazilians complained about the tactics of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and his decision not to take striker Romario to the finals.

But all that criticism seems to have fallen by the wayside with Brazil winning all six World Cup matches so far, including a 2-1 quarter-final victory over England.

A World Cup triumph would raise Brazilians' esteem for their number one sport, spoiled in recent years by a spate of corruption accusations at the highest level.

It would also lift the mood in Latin America's largest economy, battling with record weakness in its currency and bonds as investors shy away from a possible leftist victory in October's presidential elections.

"The Cup improves the confidence of the Brazilian consumer and a happy population tends to consume more, stimulating economic activity," said economist Sandra Utsumi of BES Investimento.

(Additional reporting by Tiago Pariz, Rodrigo Menderico and Erica Zanetti in Sao Paulo)

Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.