Looking back at Brazil's victorious 1994 campaign, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira says their success could be traced to events decades before, attention to detail in the last 12 months and, above all, elimination of mistakes both on and off the field.

The joyous celebrations that followed every goal and the lack of off-field pressure on the players -- every telephone call into the camp was screened -- showed that the Brazilians got it right.

"Zero mistakes, maximum efficiency get the players so that they are mentally and physically tough enough not to make any mistakes at all, and use your resources as best you can," is Carlos Alberto's tip for success.He is sure this year's winner will be one of the select group of teams who have reached the final in recent years so, of thequarter-finalists, Denmark, France and Croatia can probably be counted out.

The Brazilian bases this on the "myth" element in any side's build-up -- in Brazil's case the players are instilled with a pride in the yellow shirt, and the history and tradition of their game stretching back over decades.

Carlos Alberto, who also coached Brazil to the Cup in 1970, said he repeatedly told the players that Brazil had been champions before and, if the players wanted it and worked together towards the target, they could do it again.

He was aware that since that 1970 victory, Brazilian campaigns had been ruined by internal rifts so he employed a group psychologist to instil mutual trust and respect in the squad.

"Everyone has to be rowing in the same direction and you can see how a team celebrates a goal. How united they are. We told them a player in a winning team has to give 10 percent more for the team. Everyone had to serve the Brazilian shirt," he said.

The psychologist is also working with the 1998 squad,the Brazilian told a coaches' seminar on the fringes of the World Cup.

On the pitch, Carlos Alberto said it is essential for coaches to respect the style of play of their country, also part of the myth, and try to impose that style on their opponents in every game.

He estimated 70 percent of his time was spent coaching Brazilian players what to do when they didn't have the ball in order to pressure the opposition. In the 1994 Cup, Brazil made 27 wrong passes a game on average but recovered 77 balls from the opposition, he said.

Off the pitch, everything must be organised so that pressure on the players is as limited as possible, said Carlos Alberto who trained Saudi Arabia at the 1998 finals before being sacked for poor results.

He had the Brazil players together for one month before the tournament, three weeks of training and then three friendlies in the final week to get them match-fit. Travelling and changes in environment were kept to a minimum.Seventeen people were employed to look after theteam's every need, including a telephone operator who weeded out unwanted calls for the players and the coach.

The one potential big problem off the field was the press. Ex-England coach Terry Venables said dealing with the media could take up to 50 percent of a coach's time at a major championship.

"They are so demanding but you have to give them information every day. Don't ignore them, make them happy or they will make trouble," Carlos Alberto said. The coach said everything went according to plan in 1994 but he thinks the 1998 squad has faced problems because, as champions, they were not forced to play qualifying games.

Carlos Alberto's team had a tough time during qualifying and this built their mental strength and united them. "This team has not played qualifying games and they only meet now and then. But a couple of senior players told me that they are starting to get to know each other and now the unity is coming," he said.