Soccer: Brazil omen bodes ill for Turkey

A bad omen for Turkey ahead of tonight's semifinal: in six previous semifinal appearances, Brazil have won four.

They beat France 5-2 in 1958, Chile 4-2 in 1962, Uruguay 3-1 in 1970 and Sweden 1-0 eight years ago, en route to victory in the final each time.

They drew 1-1 with the Netherlands in 1998, but won the penalty shootout before losing to France.

Their last semifinal defeat - excluding the 1950 tournament, which was based on a pool format - was in 1938, when Brazil lost 2-1 to eventual champions Italy.