Croatian Player Is Hit With 3 Yellow Cards

English referee Graham Poll gave a Croatian player an extra chance yesterday, showing him three yellow cards before finally sending him off after blowing the final whistle of the Croats' 2-2 tie with Australia in Stuttgart.

Poll gave Croatia's Josep Simunic his first yellow in the 62nd minute in a bad-tempered match. In the 90th minute, with two other players having been sent off, Poll gave Simunic another yellow card for a foul, but did not show him a red card and send him off as he should.

Poll did not appear to be aware that he had already booked Simunic. Three minutes later, Poll blew the final whistle. Simunic spoke to Poll, who looked angry, pushed him away with one hand and showed the defender a yellow card for the third time and then the red card.

Ronaldo's Milestone

Brazil's Ronaldo scored his 13th and 14th World Cup goals in yesterday's 4-1 win over Japan, tying the tournament career record held by Gerd Mueller of West Germany. He also surpassed the Brazilian mark held by Pele.

Playing in his fourth World Cup, Ronaldo has 66 goals in 102 matches with Brazil. Pele scored 95 in 114 matches.

Italian Scandal

Italian club teams Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were ordered to stand trial in a sports court and face possible demotion from Serie A, the country's top division.

Federation spokesman Alessandro Salerno said that 26 people -- but no players -- were also ordered to stand trial in a match-fixing scandal. No names were given, but officials of Juventus, the team most implicated, and other soccer officials reportedly make up that group.