Football: World Cup - Rekdal penalty floors Brazil

Brazil 1 Bebeto 78 Att: 60,000 Norway 2 T A Flo 83, Rekdal pen 89: Decision night: World champions suffer shock defeat as Italy overcome Austria and Cameroon are sent packing

THEY WILL tell tales of this deep into Norwegian winter nights. How, with a mere 13 minutes left, their trusty heroes had to score twice against the mighty world champions to qualify for the second stage of the World Cup for the first time in their history. It will take some believing, even by the hordes of painted warriors who had flocked into Marseilles through the day and who were still celebrating half an hour after the final whistle. The Brazilians could barely believe it either.

Having strolled through most of a humid night, the champions took the lead with a goal of wonderful simplicity and presumed they had done enough. The Norwegians, aware that Morocco were ending Scotland's slim hopes 200 miles to the north in St Etienne, had pressed hard throughout the second half but had little to show for their increasingly frenzied efforts. The one consolation was that they had the best No 9 on the pitch. Apart from one burst of acceleration between two Norwegian defenders, Ronaldo was a spectator as his opposite number, Tore Andre Flo, gave a remarkable exhibition of the art of the mobile modern centre-forward.

Asked to shoulder the burden of leading the line on his own, the Chelsea forward worked tirelessly, finding space where there seemed to be none and posing constant problems at the heart of the Brazilian defence. Deservedly, he scored the equaliser nine minutes from time, cutting inside Cafu and ramming home his right-foot shot. Six minutes later, as another cross loomed, Junior Baiano was forced to climb all over the tall Norwegian and the referee, Esfandiar Baharmast from the United States, who had been in charge of Nigeria's thrilling victory over Spain earlier in the tournament, pointed to the spot. Faced with the responsibility of taking his country through to a second round match against Italy here next Saturday, Kjetil Rekdal summoned every ounce of his nerve and calmly clipped the ball past Taffarel.

Not too much should be read into the scoreline from the champions' perspective. Mario Zagallo, their coach, sent out a side bent on frivolity and their players had talked of giving an exhibition of football, shorn for once of all pressures other than living up to their own high standards. They had already qualified to meet Chile in a South American fiesta in the Parc des Princes on Saturday. Denilson was given his first start of the tournament and Aldair, already on a yellow card, was rested. The side looked gifted as ever, but strangely unbalanced, with Rivaldo, Leonardo, Denilson and Roberto Carlos all favouring the left side; a team fashioned in the image of Zico, the technical assistant, rather than the more pragmatic Zagallo.

The coach suggested as much when he said: "We lost in a way I don't like but maybe this will be a lesson to us. Defeat came at the right moment."

A bright start by the Brazilians saw Roberto Carlos press forward down the left, only for Bebeto to stray fractionally offside as Ronaldo lurked on the far post. A free-kick by Carlos, taken nearer the half-way line than the goal and accorded a run-up worthy of Fred Trueman, seemed a piece of grand frivolity until Grodas felt the sting of the left-foot shot on his fists.

Slowly, the Norwegians settled into a placid rhythm and Taffarel was marginally the busier goalkeeper as Leonhardsen, one of six Premiership players in the starting line-up, broke forward into the space created by Flo's lateral movement.

A touch more composure on a left-foot shot from 18 yards could have put the Norwegians ahead on the half-hour mark. Taffarel also had to make a smart save from Strand and a long range effort by Rekdal flew narrowly over the bar.

In midfield, Norway harried and hassled, cutting off the supply lines to Cafu and Roberto Carlos and channelling Ronaldo down cul-de-sacs. It was solid, efficient, Norwegian handywork not pacy or subtle enough to trouble the world champions until the final fireworks. With luck, the harmony created by the onfield marriage of Rose Angela de Souza of Brazil and Oyvind Ekeland of Norway survived a torrid first night. For the Norwegians, the honeymoon is just beginning.

BRAZIL (4-3-1-2); Taffarel (Athletico Mineiro); Cafu (Roma), Junior Baiano (Flamengo), Goncalves (Botafago), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid); Rivaldo (Barcelona), Dunga (Jubilo Iwata), Denilson (Sao Paulo); Leonardo (Milan); Bebeto (Botafago), Ronaldo (Internazionale).

NORWAY (4-5-1): Grodas (Tottenham); Berg (Manchester Utd), Johnsen (Manchester Utd), Eggen (Celta Vigo), Bjornebye (Liverpool); H Flo (Werder Bremen), Leonhardsen (Liverpool), Rekdal (Hertha Berlin), Strand (Rosenborg Trondheim), Riseth (Linz); T A Flo (Chelsea). Substitutes: Mykland (Panathinaikos) for Strand, h-t; Solskjaer (Manchester Utd) for H Flo, 68; J Flo (Stromsgodset) for Riseth, 79.

Referee: E Baharmast (US).