My goal was no fluke, says Ronaldinho

RONALDINHO insists his goal which beat England to send Brazil through to the semi-finals of the World Cup was not a fluke.

His superbly flighted free-kick from 30 yards out on the left lobbed over the head of a desperately-retreating England goalkeeper David Seaman and dipped wickedly under the bar at the far post to put Brazil 2-1 ahead at the start of the second half.

Cynics instantly dismissed it as an over-hit lob into the penalty area, but Ronaldinho was adamant he intended to surprise Seaman.

‘‘My team-mate Cafu had told me that Seaman usually moves forward preparing to take the square balls,’’ he said.

‘‘I was a bit far (out from goal), but I tried it and I was able to score. He (Seaman) moved back, but he couldn’t stop it.’’

Minutes after his breathtaking heroics, Ronaldinho - who had set up Brazil’s equaliser for Rivaldo with a long, scything run in first half injury time - was sent off. Mexican referee Felipe Ramos Rizo whipped out the red card for a studs-up tackle on England right back Danny Mills.

Ronaldinho claimed later he was convinced he did not deserve to be sent off and claimed that Mills agreed with him.

‘‘I don’t believe that it was a foul for a red card,’’ he said. ‘‘I met Mills in doping control later and he also believes I did not deserve to be sent off.’’

The sending-off means he is automatically ruled out of Brazil’s semi-final, but he expects to be available for the final, if they get there.

‘‘I don’t want to say anything more about all this because it depends on FIFA, but I have hope,’’ he added. Former Middlesbrough star Juninho jumped to the defence of Ronaldinho.

‘‘He is not the sort of player who goes out to intentionally hurt somebody,’’ said the midfielder.

‘‘The referee didn’t know what sort of person he was, so he sent him off. It was a mistake.’’

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, meanwhile, believes the fighting spirit of his Brazil side is unsurpassed after they came from behind to beat England. Michael Owen gave Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men the lead in the first half, only for Brazil to hit back and go ahead early after the break.

‘‘With all respect to the players that have played for Brazil in its history, never have I seen a bunch of players defend the national colours with such pride. I think the spirit of these boys would be what I would praise most,” Scolari said.

‘‘To stay alive and not die was the only thought we had. That was the subject of my team talk with my play-ers, that we could not die.’’

Scolari, nicknamed ‘Big Phil’, has come under heavy criticism in the Brazilian press for preferring a more aggressive style of play than their fans are used to.

But he said: ‘‘I have the feeling of a job well done. I hope people now believe in what we are trying to do. Being where we are now gives me a personal feeling of satisfaction.’’

Defender Roque Junior admitted they did not get flustered by either going behind or going down to 10 men.

‘‘Although England scored first, we weren’t upset and we played our football because we knew our chance would come,’’ he said.

‘‘Since we had to play with only 10 men, each player had to lift himself. It was that effort which brought us the victory.

‘‘We have been criticised for having a weak defence, so we discussed positions and we made some adjustments.’’