YOKOHAMA, Japan - If there's one person the Germans have to watch out for in tomorrow morning's World Cup final, it's the bald guy.

No, not Pierluigi Collina. The Italian referee with the cue-ball head and the piercing eyes is the least of Germany's worries. He is probably the most highly respected game official in soccer.

No, not Ronaldo, either. The Brazilian striker may be the tournament's leading goal-scorer, but he doesn't really qualify as bald anymore.

The person the Germans should fear lurks in the left back position, waiting to either create or score the goal that will give the South Americans a record fifth world championship.

He is Roberto Carlos, considered the best at that spot.

There's his speed. He can be at one end of the field, sending in a cross for Ronaldo or Rivaldo or Ronaldinho to knock into the net at one moment, and in the next instant he can be making a saving tackle back in his own penalty area.

Brazil boasts its "Triple R" offense, but it really should be the "Quadruple R," considering Roberto Carlos' contribution.

He can deliver the perfect ball, striking a hard, low liner across the face of the opposing net to create havoc amid the tangle of legs reaching out to deflect it, or floating a delicate cross directly onto the forehead or foot of a striker.

Germany will be well aware of the threat he poses. His fantastic assist for Real Madrid beat German club Bayer Leverkusen in European Champions Cup play. German coach Rudi Voeller's starting lineup features three Leverkusen players, a number that would have been four had playmaker Michael Ballack not been suspended.

A third way Carlos can undo a near-impenetrable German defense that has given up only one goal in six World Cup games is with a free kick. The 29-year-old has a wicked left-footed shot.

Germany will need to keep an eye on the four R's, while trying to contain Cafu coming down the right flank and, possibly, Juninho Paulista coming up the middle. Voeller probably will tell defensive midfielder Dietmar Hamann and Jens Jeremies, Ballack's replacement, to stay to help the defenders.

All of which means that the Germans' attack probably will be limited to two options: seeking corner kicks and free kicks.

But with a team as explosive as Brazil is on the counterattack, Germany cannot afford to get caught with too many players up front, which means forward Oliver Neuville and Miroslav Klose may be in for a long night battling for crosses against superior numbers.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari knows that his defense can't match Germany's. But Scolari is expected to have his team running at Germany from the start, keeping it pinned back on defense and unable to use its superior height and physical strength on offense.

Grahame L. Jones is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.