Scolari's Brazil have entertained (Allsport).

By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer, Tokyo

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In this teeming city where things are forever changing and life is perpetually on the move, it is easy to accept the unpredictability of the 2002 World Cup.

A tournament where favourites France and Argentina went out in the first round, Italy in a blaze of recriminations and where Africa, in the shape of Senegal, and Asia, with Japan and South Korea, have heralded the march of a new world order.

But as the competition nears its denouement, there is a comfort for all football lovers in the continued presence of Brazil.

There is something about those golden shirts which still says everything about how the game should be played - with balance and poise plus adventure and daring.

The 2002 vintage is not the best Brazilian team to represent its country. Far from it.

It does not have the team ethic of 1982, nor the pragmatism of 1994 - and no way does it even compare with the majesty of 1970 and Pele, Tostao, Rivelino and Jairzinho.

But the Brazil side which takes on Turkey on Wednesday in Saitama for a place in the final of the World Cup does deserve our acclaim.

It would have been easy for manager Luiz Felipe Scolari to revert to his naturally cautious instincts coming into this tournament - especially as a discredited Brazil had done so badly in qualifying, losing six of their 18 matches.

Yet Scolari, in the great tradition of the golden shirts, recognised that here was not a team with a collective mind. It was not a side which could be drilled and meticulously prepared in the manner of Eriksson's England or Lagerback's Sweden.

It was a team with great individuals, a side which could fly to the heights required only if allowed to indulge its greatest strengths.

"It's not a marvellous team, but it's competitive and we're getting there," is Scolari's verdict. "There have been a lot of disappointments at this World Cup and we have not been among them."

Against Turkey, however, the three Rs - Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho - are split for the first time this tournament.

Ronaldinho's unjustified sending-off against England means he is suspended while Scolari must wait on medical reports to discover whether Ronaldo's thigh injury will have recovered in time.

Such problems throw doubt on Brazil's challenge, because without their undoubted attacking brilliance - Ronaldo and Rivaldo are the tournament's joint leading scorers with five goals each - the Brazilians are at best ordinary.

And Turkey, at their first World Cup since 1954, are dangerous.

They proved that in their first match against Brazil when they lost 2-1, but only after they had taken the lead and then gone behind three minutes from the end when the referee awarded a penalty to Brazil for an offence by Turkey's Alpay Ozalan which television proved was outside the area. Rivaldo converted and the Brazilians won.

There is the added spice also surrounding Rivaldo's contemptible antics in the first game when he feigned injury after Hakan Ulsan had kicked the ball at him.

It fooled the referee and got the Turk sent off.

The Turks, especially in their win against Senegal, have shown they are adept at slicing through defences with players such as Hasan Sas and Umit Davala providing the penetration which totally eluded France and Argentina. Their problem has been finishing off their crafty approach play.

Brazil, meanwhile, must decide if the lightweight but industrious Juninho or Denilson comes in for Ronaldinho while Luizao stands by for Ronaldo.

But while a Turkey triumph would be an historic achievement as the first almost exclusively Muslim country to reach a World Cup final, this tournament needs Brazil to contest the famous trophy in Yokohama on Sunday.

The World Cup 2002 has had upsets aplenty already.

It has endured poor refereeing decisions, ticketing incompetence and the defensive thinking of so many sides, including Italy and Spain. Apart from the phenomenal fairytale of South Korea, however, it has not had allure.

And that is what Brazil bring to the party - a conviction that great prizes can be won by shimmering skill and stirring adventure.

That defensive weakness can be offset by individual cameos which paint the game in its brightest hue - and, it should be noted, buckets of sweat not always associated with teams from Latin America.

When Brazil run onto the field the pulse quickens in every football lover. It is a quality which allows many flaws to be forgiven.

Which is why, with apologies to Turkey, for the good of the competition and the sake of a final of global, rather than peripheral, interest it must be Brazil who prevail in Saitama on Wednesday.