Mighty Brazil, the best team in the world, begins to look beatable

By JACK EPSTEIN /RIO DE JANEIRO

he scene got ugly in the second half of an April 29 match with Argentina; more than 90,000 fans booed, gave thumbs down gestures, yelled "Idiot" at the head coach and cheered "Ole" when the Argentines had the ball. Is this any way to treat what nearly everyone agrees is the best football team in the world? In Brazil it is. The national team, winner of four World Cups including the last one, is beginning to look surprisingly beatable just six weeks before the kickoff in Paris.

In the Argentina match Brazil showed little attacking flair from the famous "Ro-Ro" combination of forwards Ronaldo and Romario (Brazilian footballers are often known by only one name), midfielders missed key passes and defenders were constantly outmaneuvered in one-on-one matchups. It was Brazil's first loss at Rio's Maracana Stadium in 41 years. "A ridiculous showing," said Tostao, a former World Cup star and now a sports commentator. "I have never seen a team play so badly," wrote their coach, Mario Zagallo, in his weekly column in Jornal do Brasil. "God willing, it won't ever happen again."

It shouldn't, considering the talent on display wearing the team's canary yellow shirts. Despite Romario's absence from the team due to a calf strain, there's Ronaldo, unarguably the best player in the world, the second best player in the world--according to FIFA--Roberto Carlos, a defender with a talent for free kicks; Denilson, who transferred to Spanish club Betis for the world record sum of $36 million; and Rivaldo, recently bought by Barcelona for $26 million.

But the dream-team steamroller broke down last February at the biennial Americas Gold Cup, when in Miami, Brazil first struggled to draws against Guatemala and Jamaica and then in Los Angeles committed the unthinkable--a 1-0 loss to the United States, the first time a U.S. squad had beaten Brazil or even scored a goal against them since 1930.

There were inevitable excuses: half the team was missing, including Ronaldo, and the U.S. has vastly improved in recent years. But the bad press continued even after Brazil beat Germany 2-1 in a subsequent game. "Although they lost, the Germans were better than the Brazilians," according to the German newspaper Bonner Rundschau.

A national debate soon ensued. To the other excuses head coach Zagallo blamed a lack of practice. FIFA president Joao Havelange, a Brazilian, suggested the team had too many older veterans: Dunga, Bebeto, Taffarel and Aldair are all past 30. Pele said the team relied too much on individual performances. "We cannot win a World Cup with stars alone," said the greatest star in the history of the game.

The brunt of the criticism has been aimed at Zagallo. In recent weeks, the 66-year-old coach has been called stubborn, arrogant, predictable and lazy for not taking enough time to study his adversaries. "Zagallo, Hero or Villian?" and "Wake-up Zagallo!" read recent Rio headlines. Some sportswriters have even publicly urged the Brazilian Football Confederation (C.B.F.) to fire Zagallo, despite his phenomenal won-lost record of 88-6 with 28 draws.

Incidents away from the playing field have also taken their toll and undermined the winning formula. In March, the C.B.F. appointed former star Arthur Antunes Coimbra, known popularly as Zico, as Zagallo's assistant. Zico and Zagallo promptly fell out because Zico banned card playing among the players. "They aren't nuns," said Zagallo. Then there was controversy over Nike's $400 million sponsorship deal with the Brazilian team. "We can't stain the team jersey with the logo of a company accused of exploiting slave and child labor," said Rui Falcao a Sao Paulo congressman. And there are always tabloid scandals. Manslaughter charges were filed against bad-boy backup striker Edmundo after a 1995 auto smashup that killed three people and injured six. Even good-natured superstar Ronaldo antagonized the Catholic Church by appearing in an advertisement for Pirelli tires as Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio's famed Guanabara Bay under the caption: "Power without control is nothing."

Zico vows that Brazil will change its game plan and beef up the midfield with World Cup first-timers Rivaldo and Giovanni. And team captain Dunga pledges that when Brazil takes the field on June 10 against Scotland it will be a return to artful soccer. "You will see another Brazil," he promised in a recent letter to fans. Many, though, would settle for the same old brilliance.