Manchester United would be after playing and Eric Cantona would have scored the winner and the analysis would show how right amidst the hubbub, Cantona had suddenly come to a stop somewhere near the edge of the box.

Play had continued around him and yet there he stood, like a swimmer who'd suddenly realised he'd been thrashing about in the shallow end all the time. Defenders had rushed past him, drawn to their goal-line like kids to a den and so when the ball had come his way, he'd had time to pick his spot.

It was canny made flesh.

Action in inaction. The pawprint of a smarter than average bear.

This is Carlos Alberto Parreira's fifth World Cup as a manager. He was also one of the fitness trainers for Brazil's 1970 team. He is too long of tooth and greying of thatch to be an average bear.

And so the thought occurred on Tuesday night that in his handling of the Ronaldo situation he might just be playing out a version of the Cantona Halt himself.

Parreira has known for the best part of two years that the Real Madrid striker can't . . . or won't . . . run out of his way. Insofar as you can have problems as the manager of Brazil, this has been far an away the trickiest he's had to solve. Where normally the conundrum with a star who isn't fully-fit is working out the possibilities for getting him into the side, Parreira has had to find a way to delicately take a plainly overweight yet unarguably iconic Ronaldo out of his.

What must be understood about Parreira is that he doesn't enjoy the reputation in Brazil that someone who has led the country to a World Cup win should. In a nation where there are famously said to be 70 million coaches, his 1994 triumph is the least-loved of the five. It is seen as the World Cup of Dunga rather than that of Romario. So rough was the passage he endured to and through USA 94 that he promised never to go back to the job again upon stepping down in its aftermath.

When he changed his mind and went back eight years later, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho had just won the 2002 World Cup, Adriano was emerging as a thumping Serie A goalscorer and a 19year-old Kaka was having a stunning break-out season with Sao Paolo, one that would end with him heading to Milan. It wouldn't be long before the idea of the Magic Quartet would take root with the Brazilian public and presented to Parreira almost as a fait accompli.

Problem was . . . is . . . that fitting all four in a balanced side would be a head-scratcher for even the most devilmay-care of coaches. And when it comes to first principles, Parreira is as straight as the Autobahn. If you were ringing around for a coach who'd relish playing with two number nines and two number 10s all on the one pitch at the one time, his number would be near enough the last flip on the rolodex.

The suspicion has long been that he was putting up with the idea for as long as nothing too vexing was put in front of his team. There was no harm in allowing a little fantasy to reign and, at any rate, part of him must have been curious to see could it be done. Socrates said before the tournament, however, that most Brazilians would be surprised if the Magic Quartet was still intact come the knock-out stages. In the form and fitness of Ronaldo, Parreira would have had a fair idea he had an out.

And so it has proved. The reaction to Ronaldo's performance against Croatia on Tuesday night has been only just short of hysterical and has effectively carried out Parreira's delicate little task for him. The Brazilian press, for so long forgiving of Ronaldo's shortcomings, finally let slip the dogs of war.

O Globo gave him a ranking of three out of 10. Folha de Sao Paolo, the country's biggest-selling newspaper, called his performance pathetic. "It was torture seeing him as a staggering heavyweight, " wrote Juca Kfouri, a highly-regarded columnist who is covering his 10th World Cup. "Wandering around the field as though nothing that was going around him had anything to do with him. Even if only to be sensitive, Parreira should spare Ronaldo and save his enormous reputation."

Naming his team an entire month before the tournament had even started was Parreira's version of the Cantona Halt, standing still and allowing everything develop naturally away from him.

Defending Ronaldo as he has done wasn't just defending a player who is, for all his recent woes, a national hero;

it was also keeping the idea of Magic Quartet so beloved of the public alive.

Now that the majority of his countryfolk want Ronaldo gone, he can take his time and pick the team many believe he wanted to pick in the first place. Ronaldo's record and reputation have bought him one last hurrah against Australia but a repeat of Tuesday night and he'll be eased aside.

"Ronaldo has never been so close to the subs' bench, " says Parreira. "But still the team thinks he is a man who overcomes obstacles and, like the fans, will be hoping for a miraculous recovery of his fitness, mental state and technique."

As for where they go from there, it's far from certain that Ronaldo's replacement against Croatia, Robinho, will be the next man in. Although he was naturally a lot livelier than Ronaldo, nobody pretends that he has anything like the finishing skills of the man who needs only two more World Cup goals to draw level with Gerd Muller at the top of the tournament's all-time list.

What looks more likely and makes more sense given the nature of the coach is to bring in Juninho Pernambucano, the Lyon free-kick maestro.

That way, the 4-2-2-2 system used to accommodate the Magic Quartet can be abandoned for a more natural 4-31-2, with Ronaldinho and Adriano playing ahead of Kaka. This way, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Juninho Pernambucano and Ze Roberto are all playing in or close to their club positions and there wouldn't be so much onus on Roberto Carlos and Cafu to provide width. As Croatia showed on Tuesday night, men with legs their age can't attack and defend at the same time, no matter how many World Cup finals they've seen.

If they're to see another, it will be because Parreira handled an awkward situation with a lot of guile. It's the brief of any coach to get the best out of his players. In this instance, the man charged with bringing home what Brazilians call the Hexa, is faced with removing someone who used to be the best.

As someone who's had a relationship with Ronaldo stretching back to when he took him to his first World Cup as a 17-year-old, it can't have been easy.

Standing still when all around are running wild never is.

PHYSICAL AUSTRALIA FACE WOUNDING AT SWORD OF FINESSE GROUP F AUSTRALIA v BRAZIL Munich, 5.00 Live, RTE Two, UTV, 4.30 Even allowing for the abiding truth of any World Cup that says Brazil are everyone's secondfavourite team, this is all a bit much. First, Croatia play just well enough to scare them into realising this won't be the cakewalk their country demands while at the same time retaining enough manners not to actually score against them. Next, Australia mine a 3-1 win out of what should have been a 2-0 defeat against Japan.

This gives the Aussies a real chance of making the second round and brings them to rethink their priorities against Kaka and co. The four yellow cards they've racked up against Japan suddenly come into play. The Croatia game on Thursday night will be the likely decider and before you know it, Guus Hiddink and his coaching staff are talking seriously about sparing Brazil the presence of both Tim Cahill and John Aloisi . . . scorers of all the goals in the Japan game . . . as well as defender Craig Moore and midfielder Vince Grella.

What next, a samba version of Waltzing Matilda?

Though they bristle at the caricature, Australia aren't at all slandered by a card count of four.

Indeed, Lucas Neill and Marco Bresciano could easily have found themselves similarly unemployed today with a little less luck. They spare nothing in the tackle, this lot, which in an admittedly obtuse kind of way, is another tribute to Hiddink's ability to cut his tactical cloth.

He's produced teams at three World Cups in a row playing three utterly different styles of football. No wonder he's in such demand.

Can he finagle a draw out of this one? Doubtful. Getting a point against Brazil . . . even a misfiring one . . . is like becoming a member of Augusta National. It's conferred upon you on their terms. If you go looking for it, chances are you won't get it.

With all the focus on Ronaldo, it's probably time for Ronaldinho to put his hand in the air. And although Cafu could be in trouble if Harry Kewell takes the notion, that's generally a decent-sized 'if' these days.