Italy, Czech Republic and Australia all made winning starts at the World Cup on Monday while Togo's coaching saga took another twist.

Keen to shrug off a corruption scandal afflicting league soccer back home, the Italians defeated debutants Ghana 2-0 at the tournament in Germany.

The Czechs, regarded by some as dark horses for the title, beat the United States 3-0 in Gelsenkirchen. Midfielder Tomas Rosicky was outstanding with two stunning goals.

Monday's results put Czech Republic and Italy at the top of Group E, with three points each.

Australia stormed to a dramatic late win over Japan in Kaiserslautern, overturning a first-half deficit to triumph 3-1 in their Group F match.

Brazil begin the defense of their World Cup title on Tuesday when they play Croatia in Berlin, also in Group F.

Togo staged an amazing turnaround off the pitch, when trainer Otto Pfister announced he would return to coach the team he walked out on only last week. Pfister returned to the camp less than 24 hours before the West African team's first match.

KOLLER SCARE

Andrea Pirlo struck a 25-meter drive through a crowded penalty box to give Italy the lead in the 40th minute of their match in Hanover. Vincenzo Iaquinta added a second for the three-times World Cup winners late on.

A header from towering striker Jan Koller put the Czechs ahead in the 5th minute of their game against the United States.

Koller was taken off on a stretcher later in the first half with a suspected thigh muscle injury but initial fears that his World Cup may be over seemed unfounded.

"We thought at first it was a serious injury. We don't think that any more," a team spokesman said.

Rosicky made the game safe with a swerving long-range effort in the first half and a sweet finish at the end of a pacey run in the second period.

In Australia's match against Japan, substitute Tim Cahill struck twice in the last six minutes and John Aloisi added a spectacular third in injury time.

Japan had taken the lead with a disputed goal from Shunsuke Nakamura in the 26th minute of their Group F match.

Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer seemed to have been impeded by Atsushi Yanagisawa as he came to punch away Nakamura's cross, which then floated into the net.

"In the end justice was done in this game," Australia coach Guus Hiddink said.

Togo have provided the most bizarre saga so far in the month-long tournament, which began on Friday.

Pfister, a 68-year-old German, quit as coach saying he could not work because the players and the Togolese football authorities were embroiled in a dispute over pay.

Togolese officials then put assistant coach Kodjovi Mawuena in charge for the first game against South Korea on Tuesday. They also began talks with German coach Winfried Schaefer.

But Pfister suddenly announced he had responded to an appeal from the players to return and would be in charge on Tuesday.

"The players intervened massively. I received a fax from the (Togolese football association) president and I will sit on the bench as coach of the team tomorrow," he told Reuters.

The World Cup finals, the world's most watched sporting event, has so far avoided any major incidents of hooliganism which some experts had feared could overshadow the football.

Instead, the main trouble has been hot weather taking its toll on players and casting heavy shadows across some pitches.

FIFA said it would close the roof at Frankfurt's Waldstadion for the Togo-South Korea match on Tuesday to stop shadows spoiling television images. A German meteorologist warned that could turn the stadium into a sweltering "massive greenhouse."

(Reuters via China Daily June 13, 2006)