English players size up quarter-final opponents

The eyes of the crowd were fixed on the VIP box before kick-off in this World Cup second-round clash when David Beckham led a group of England players to their seats.

Beckham, a megastar here in Japan, grabbed the attention of thousands of fans in the stadium as he made his entrance alongside a large group of players plus Sven-Goran Eriksson and Tord Grip.

The motive for their attendance was to catch a glimpse of their quarter-final opponents, with the winners of this match to face Eriksson’s men in Shizuoka on Friday afternoon.

Brazil lined up with the ‘‘Three Rs’’ - Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho - spearheading their attack as coach Luiz Felipe Scolari restored some big names to his side for this World Cup second-round encounter.

Ronaldinho came back into Brazil’s starting line-up after sitting out the 5-2 win over Costa Rica, with Edilson dropping back to the bench.

Roberto Carlos, predictably, was preferred at left-back to the lively Junior, who in any case was carrying an ankle injury sustained against Costa Rica. Meanwhile, Roque Junior replaced Anderson Polga at the heart of the Brazilian defence.

Belgium striker Wesley Sonck remained on the bench despite helping to spark the Red Devils’ revival against Russia with a goal in the 3-2 win which secured second place in Group H.

Belgium coach Robert Waseige was without central defender Glen de Boeck, who has a back injury, with Timmy Simons restored to the team.