Rivaldo denies duel with Beckham

Rivaldo today insisted tomorrow’s big World Cup showdown was not a duel between himself and David Beckham.

The brilliant Brazilian also predicted that the eagerly-anticipated quarter-final encounter would not go to golden goal or penalties, would contain more than one goal and that whoever won would go on to lift the World Cup.

‘‘There is no reason to compare me with Beckham,’’ said Rivaldo, who has scored four goals in the tournament so far, compared to Beckham’s solitary penalty against Argentina. ‘‘He has his way of playing and I have mine.

‘‘Every player dreams of playing in a match such as this and I feel privileged to be playing.

‘‘I think there will be more than one goal and probably it will be over in the 90 minutes. And if we win the game against England we should then be favourites because we would have won five games out of five.’’

Rivaldo, who trained with the rest of the squad for more than an hour today, also urged the Japanese to turn out in numbers and shout for his side in an area which contains thousands of people with Brazilian ancestry.

‘‘It’s good to have the Japanese support,’’ said Rivaldo. ‘‘Since Japan are no longer in the cup a lot of their fans have come around to supporting Brazil.’’

The weather, however, was doing its best to assist England today, driving rain and a chilly breeze making the Ecopa stadium seem more like a November afternoon in Middlesbrough than a stadium ready to welcome the samba football of Brazil.

The chill did much to remind Juninho of his two spells in the north-east.

‘‘If it is raining like this the game will be complicated for both sides,’’ said Juninho, who admitted he did not know whether he would be starting the game.

‘‘But nearly all the 11 play in Europe so they are used to the rain.’’

Juninho, however, dismissed any notions that Brazil would concentrate on defence after being criticised for their sloppy display in the 2-0 triumph over Belgium last Monday.

‘‘We have to play the same way we always do,’’ said Juninho. ‘‘We know the England side is strong but Brazil will have to continue to attack.

‘‘Beckham and Michael Owen are great players but we have to watch all 11, not just one or two players.

‘‘We know we have to play excellent football to win the match.’’

When asked what he thought of England being led by a foreigner in the shape of Sven-Goran Eriksson, Juninho added: ‘‘The people in Brazil wouldn’t like it.

‘‘But I think Eriksson is a great manager and he is doing a very good job with England.’’

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s only conundrum seems to be whether to play Ricardino instead of Juninho in midfield. If he sticks with the former Boro star it should be the same team which started against Belgium.

Brazil (probable): Marcos, Roberto Carlos, Lucio, Edmilson, Roque Junior, Cafu, Juninho, Gilberto Silva, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo.