By The Associated Press

BERLIN – Brazil brought Carnival to Germany. With the way Croatia behaved, it might not get an invite to the Brazilians’ next party.

Kaka delighted the Brazilian fans who have sambaed their way to Europe, scoring in the 44th minute, and the defending champions won their record eighth straight World Cup game with a 1-0 victory over Croatia on Tuesday night.

But beware, all you other World Cup teams. Croatia settled down after a scratchy start and gave Brazil all it could handle. It peppered goalkeeper Dida with several shots in the second half, including one by Dado Prso in the 51st minute that went off the Brazilian’s hands.

And if captain Niko Kovac hadn’t left with what appeared to be a rib injury just before halftime, the outcome might have been very different.

“We needed a little more movement, creativity,” Kaka said. “But I think considering it was the opener, it was a good match. The win was fundamental.”

Croatia now plays Japan on Sunday, a game it needs to win after Australia’s surprising victory on Monday. Brazil plays the Aussies on Sunday.

The Brazilians are soccer’s royalty, five-time world champions and winners of two of the last three titles. They have Ronaldinho, the two-time world player of the year, and a cast of all-stars in Ronaldo, Kaka, Adriano and Cafu. And with reserves who would start on any other team, they’re heavy favorites to be partying again in Berlin after the final on July 9.

But Brazil’s fans are professionals who aren’t about to let a party go to waste, and they helped give this game the feeling of a final.

France, Switzerland tie

STUTTGART, Germany – The last player to score a World Cup goal for France retired in January 2005.

Since then have come first-round elimination in 2002 and four straight shutouts, including Tuesday’s tame 0-0 tie with Switzerland, which hasn’t been on soccer’s biggest stage for 12 years.

Emmanuel Petit’s last-minute strike was France’s third in a 3-0 victory over Brazil to win the championship on home turf in 1998. Maybe Petit can contact the French and remind them how to find the net.

“We knew it would not be easy, but we managed to take two points off a direct rival,” France coach Raymond Domenech said of the one point the Swiss got instead of three for a win. “I regret that we did not score when we had the chance, but we are always at the mercy of these things. The refereeing was not always understandable, even though it is top-level refereeing. It’s a shame, but we have to put up with it.”

Thierry Henry, who led Arsenal with 33 goals this season just ended, was particularly mediocre. He headed one good chance hopelessly too high and virtually passed two shots to Swiss goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler. So Henry also complained about referee Valentin Ivanov of Russia. Henry thought France should have had a penalty when Swiss defender Patrick Mueller accidentally stopped a shot from Franck Ribery with his left hand.

“Once again the referee didn’t see it and it came at a moment in the match when we were really on top,” Henry said. “I know that the rule is hand-to-ball, but if the ball hits the hand and it stops it going in, that should be a penalty.”

South Korea 2, Togo 1

FRANKFURT, Germany – Togo got its coach back for its opening World Cup match, and even took a halftime lead.

Then everything fell apart in a 2-1 loss to South Korea on Tuesday.

South Korea’s long wait for its first World Cup victory on foreign soil ended against the tiny African nation, which put up an unexpectedly spirited performance given the coaching turmoil that ended only moments before the match.

To compound its problems, Togo played with 10 men for the final 37 minutes.

Even though they were defeated, just getting on the field must have come as a relief for the Togolese, who made headlines around the world for the chaos engulfing their camp.

There were doubts until almost gametime whether coach Otto Pfister, who resigned on Friday and agreed to come back Monday, would actually sit on the bench. But he took his place, encouraging his team on.

The game will hardly go down in World Cup annals for its quality, but it will make history in South Korea as the nation’s first win outside of Asia since the team made its debut in the tournament in 1954.

Substitute Ahn Jung-Hwan, who was famously fired by Perugia after his overtime goal knocked Italy out of the second round of the 2002 World Cup, scored the winner in the 72nd minute His perfectly placed 25-yard shot beat Togo goalkeeper Kossi Agassa.

Lee-Chun-soo had tied it in the 54th with a free kick that soared over the defensive wall and past Agassa’s outstretched arm. Moments before, Togo captain Jean-Paul Abalo received his second yellow card and was ejected after bringing down Park Ji-Sung just outside the penalty area.

Abalo stumbled while turning and Park was about to break on goal when he was fouled.

Togo went up 1-0 in the 31st minute. Mohammed Kader trapped the ball on his thigh and almost immediately shot home from 15 yards at an acute angle. The ball went in the far side beyond goalkeeper Lee-Woon-jae.

AP-ES-06-13-06 1102EDT