Brazil opens bid for sixth title with 1-0 win

BERLIN -- Brazil, France and South Korea picked up just about where they left off four years ago.

The defending champion Brazilians won their record eighth straight World Cup match Tuesday night, getting a 44th-minute goal from Kaka to shake off a pesky Croatia 1-0 in Group F.

Brazil, trying to win a record sixth championship, got a string of saves from goalkeeper Dida at the Olympic Stadium, while Ronaldo was taken off in the 69th after a below-par performance.

The French, who won the title in 1998 but went home early last time, failed to score a goal in their fourth straight World Cup match -- this time in a 0-0 draw with Switzerland in Group G. The last time the French team scored in a World Cup game was when it beat Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 final. Switzerland also held France to draws in two qualifying games.

South Korea, unexpected semifinalists as co-hosts last time, won away from home for the first time in 15 World Cup matches, beating Togo 2-1 in the same group.

-- AP