BERLIN (AP) – Brazil brought Carnival to Germany. With the way Croatia behaved, it might not get an invite to the Brazilians’ next party.

Kaka delighted the Brazilian fans who have sambaed their way to Europe, scoring in the 44th minute, and the defending champions won their record eighth straight World Cup game with a 1-0 victory against Croatia on Tuesday night.

But beware, all you other World Cup teams. Croatia settled down after a scratchy start and gave Brazil all it could handle. It peppered goalkeeper Dida with several shots in the second half, including one by Dado Prso in the 51st minute that went off the Brazilian’s hands.

And if captain Niko Kovac hadn’t left with what appeared to be a rib injury just before halftime, the outcome might have been very different.

“We needed a little more movement, creativity,” Kaka said. “But I think considering it was the opener, it was a good match. The win was fundamental.”

Croatia now plays Japan on Sunday, a game it needs to win after Australia’s surprising victory on Monday. Brazil plays the Aussies on Sunday.

The Brazilians are soccer’s royalty, five-time world champions and winners of two of the last three titles. They have Ronaldinho, the two-time world player of the year, and a cast of all-stars in Ronaldo, Kaka, Adriano and Cafu. And with reserves who would start on any other team, they’re heavy favorites to be partying again in Berlin after the final on July 9.

But Brazil’s fans are professionals who aren’t about to let a party go to waste, and they helped give this game the feeling of a final. Brazilian and Croatian fans took over the streets of Berlin early in the day, and the sounds of samba filled the air.

Flashbulbs popped all night throughout the stadium, and bright red flares lit up the sky as the game ended. A fan in a Croatia shirt even got on the field with less than 10 minutes to go, running around until Prso led him off.

And just as they usually do on soccer’s biggest stage, Brazil came through when it needed to. Even with Ronaldo looking less than impressive.

Dribbling up the right side in the 44th minute, Cafu spotted Kaka in the middle and made a perfect pass. Kaka collected it and was past Niko Krancjar with one quick tap of the ball.

The son of coach Zlatko Kranjcar has been a concern defensively, and it was soon clear why. Kranjcar wasn’t anywhere close as Kaka stutter-stepped, giving the Brazilian time to look up and check his aim from about 20 yards out.

As Kranjcar closed in, Kaka drew back and struck hard with his left foot. It was the first World Cup goal for Kaka, voted best midfielder in the Champions League in 2005.

“We had to be compact against them and we did that,” Croatian defender Josip Simunic said. “The difference was that for five seconds there we didn’t concentrate.”