BRAZIL SPOILS CHILE'S DREAM : BRAZIL 4, CHILE 1.

Byline: Christopher Clarey New York Times

Ivan Zamorano, the Chilean striker, had a dream recently about these World Cup finals. Chile would play Brazil; Chile would win 1-0.

Zamorano's subconscious did get one thing right about Saturday night's second-round game at the Parc des Princes: Chile scored a goal. The problem was that Brazil scored four, and easily could have scored more.

Not much went wrong for the defending champions on a cool, intermittently rainy Saturday evening. After losing to Norway on Tuesday in a game that mattered mostly to the Norwegians, the Brazilians started slowly, hearing jeers from their fans throughout the first 10 minutes, and then gradually acquired ramming speed, confidence and plenty of space to show off their remarkable individual skills.

``Brazil found a good way of playing: the way Brazil likes to play,'' said its coach, Mario Zagallo, whose team will face either Nigeria or Denmark in the quarterfinals.

Ronaldo, the striker who was more effective as a decoy than a scorer in Brazil's first three games, put the ball in the net twice against the overmatched Chileans. More surprising, so did his less celebrated roommate, Cesar Sampaio, a defensive midfielder whose usual role is to make life difficult for opposing strikers.

Despite sitting out the game against the Norwegians, Sampaio now has as many goals (three) in this tournament as Ronaldo, but nowhere near as many endorsements or hangers-on. Sampaio played in the Japanese first division last season but is expected to return to Brazil and play for Palmeiras next season.

In the 11th minute Saturday night, Sampaio slipped through the Chilean defense - not a Herculean task - and headed home a long free kick from Dunga without having to worry about outjumping a fullback. That was because nobody bothered to mark him.

In the 27th minute, Sampaio scored again off a set piece. His teammate Roberto Carlos, who has one of the sport's most powerful left legs, blasted a free kick toward the Chilean wall. The ball ricocheted off the Brazilian Rivaldo to Bebeto, who passed it to Sampaio, who placed it perfectly into the lower left corner of the goal with his right foot.

Brazil had a 2-0 lead, but not every Brazilian was content. While his teammates were gathered around Sampaio celebrating, Dunga, their captain, approached Ronaldo and apparently said a few critical words. It was hardly the public dressing down Dunga had given Bebeto during the first-round match against Morocco for missing a defensive assignment, but it was a reminder that Dunga remains concerned about this team's lack of collectivity and combativity compared with 1994.

After being criticized for his treatment of Bebeto, Dunga testily vowed to keep quiet against Norway. Brazil lost, and Saturday night Dunga resumed playing the role of drill sergeant against the Chileans, who have not won a match in the World Cup since 1962, but who rallied to tie in each of their three first-round games.

The Brazilians would prove less vulnerable. During the second minute of injury time in the first half, Ronaldo was brought down in the penalty box by goalkeeper Nelson Tapia. He converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Brazil a 3-0 halftime lead. Marcelo Salas cut that lead to 3-1 in the 68th minute with a header, his fourth goal of the tournament, but two minutes later, Ronaldo scored again off a fine pass from the late substitute Denilson. Ronaldo nearly scored twice more in the second half.

``Ronaldo played better than in the other matches, but he can still give a lot more,'' said Zagallo, who far preferred his team's play in the second half, although it scored only once.

The Chileans were short three key midfielders Saturday night - Francisco Rojas, Moises Villaroel, and Nelson Parraguez - who all had to miss the game because of yellow cards received in the first round. Coach Nelson Acosta clearly lacks depth, and the Chileans were only able to control the flow of play in the opening minutes. ``After they scored, things got difficult for us in a hurry,'' Zamorano said.

In 1962, Zagallo was a player on the team that defeated Chile in the semifinals. Thirty-six years later, he was the winning coach.

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1--3) Brazilians celebrated Saturday during the defeat of Chile. Cesar Sampaio, far left, along with Ronaldo - hugging teammate Denilson - each scored goals.

Photos by Michael Lipchitz and Michael Euler/Associated Press