Planet World Cup: Top fivesThe best "no comment" ever delivered by players to journalists came from the Brazilians, most of whom thumbed their noses at their large and sceptical press corps by appearing in the mixed zone behind a samba band which led them dancing through the media minefield, eyes front, knees up, having a high old time.

It was left to the old stagers to give fodder to us ink monkeys.

Roberto Carlos, proud and struttingly confident as ever, confided the key to the Brazilian win.

"We realised in this tournament that our group unity is much more important than individuality. The secret of our success was our team spirit and unity and the respect we all had for each other as players. It was good for our football to have this respect and it brought the best out of ourselves. It was necessary for us to be mentally strong because all the teams in this tournament had good defences."

Cafu, the captain and veteran of three finals in succession, is quiet and composed and has little to say. He dislikes the fuss and dislikes the thought that this might be the end of the road.

"This is the second World Cup winning team that I have played on, the other being eight years ago now. I feel that I still have a chance to go on and win another title. So far only Pele has achieved that. So that's my target for the future.

"I feel we fought very hard and very well tonight, but the important thing was that we all enjoyed ourselves."

And Rivaldo, eclipsed at last by his nation's beloved superhero. He has never been entirely trusted by the Brazilian fans, but this tournament he won a lot of friends and his key role in both goals last night will have eased him further into his nation's affections. It seemed to weigh on his mind, anyway.

"I think I played my usual game tonight. I assume that right now at home in Brazil there are great celebrations and the people are overjoyed. What is most important is that Brazil came here with a great team spirit which helped us win the trophy. So thank you to everybody back home in Brazil."

Last of the Brazilians to speak is Marcos, their remarkable goalkeeper. Usually Brazil come to town with a goalkeeper who has been put between the sticks because they can't find anything more useful for him to do. This time they took the precaution of bringing a pro.

"I'm just glad that it's over," he says, "and that we won. Brazilians are inclined to get a bit upset if we lose a game or if we play badly. The defenders and the goalie usually get all fingers pointed at them and people blame us. If a striker misses 10 chances but scores a goal or two he's a hero. So it's difficult for a Brazilian to play as a defender. Tonight I thought we did okay though. No finger-pointing when we go home."

Oliver Kahn came to the press room, big and defiant, waiting for the fingers to be pointed. He's had his moments, has this boy. He saved three Valencia penalties in a European Cup final and then months later conceded five to England. Yesterday he took the Lev Yashin award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and then committed a schoolboy howler and never got his great big antler hands on the World Cup trophy.

He comes in, he chews him gum and he looks the world straight in the eye and waits for the first question about the error.

Instead he gets asked about the bandage on his right hand.

"One ligament in my ring finger is torn," he says. "It's going to take a few weeks to heal so it's a good thing we are going on vacation now. I will give my body a rest."

A curious sideshow in the match was the amount of apparently merry conversation passing between Kahn and Italian referee Pierluigi Collina. Collina had even sought the goalkeeper out at the end to offer commiserations.

"What did he say to me? Well, there is no way you can be comforted at that time, words of consolation have no effect at such a time and place.

"Collina is a world-class referee, there's no doubt about that, but he doesn't bring luck, does he? He refereed the Champions League final against Manchester United and then he had the infamous 5-1 loss to England. Maybe fourth time lucky."

And the error for Ronaldo's goal? He dismisses it quickly.

"It was a mistake and I think it was my first mistake here. It's unfortunate, that's all. There were no squabbles, no big egos, no dissent in this team, and that helped us throughout the tournament. Some wanted to forget the bad memories of Euro 2000, some others wanted to make a name for themselves.

"Everything fitted together well and we enjoyed the moment.We were almost there, we had our hands on the trophy. Looking at the future is too difficult now."