Revived Ronaldo eyes goals against depleted China

Ronaldo, fresh from an impressive return to the World Cup in Brazil's win over Turkey, has the perfect opportunity to continue his goal-scoring revival against depleted China today.

China, disappointed after losing their debut game in the finals 2-0 to Costa Rica, will face the four times champions without two of their top players, Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai. Both picked up injuries in Tuesday's defeat.

Brazil, who came from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 thanks to a late and controversial penalty, can make sure of a second round place if they beat China and Turkey fail to defeat Costa Rica.

The high point of Brazil's win over Turkey was the performance of Ronaldo, who is determined to wipe out memories of his injury nightmare and the controversy over his illness-affected appearance in the 1998 final against France.

Against Turkey, the twice World Player of the Year scored Brazil's equaliser and was their most dangerous player until he was substituted in the 73rd minute.

"I was happy with my performance against Turkey but I can improve a lot, I know I'm on the right path," he said.

"It's an easy game in theory, but we have to transform it into an easy game. We have to play well to win the match without difficulties.

"We will be more relaxed for this game and we will play better. It's a chance to boost our morale, gain in confidence and score goals."

Brazil's players are playing down talk of a possible big score against China.

"If we win 1-0 it will be an excellent result for us, because we will get three points and take a big step towards qualifying," said Cafu, the team captain. "If we score four goals, all the better, but we have to score the first to get the fourth."

China coach Bora Milutinovic, who has coached four different countries at the World Cup and has taken each one beyond the first round, has demanded more concentration from his team.

"For such a strong opponent we must improve our concentration and as much as possible prevent the opposition from controlling the ball," he said.

"We must strengthen our tackling and formation. In the Costa Rica game, we lost the ball because our concentration was not good enough at some moments," said Milutinovic.

"But the match against Brazil is also a pleasure for us because everybody knows what it means to be able to play Brazil. We will improve our own ability and level as much as possible."

Milutinovic had said China's best chance of reaching the last 16 was if they beat Costa Rica, lost to Brazil and drew with Turkey. But their opening defeat has changed that permutation.

Asked if China would be happy to draw with Brazil, Milutinovic said: "No, to go through we need to win.

"On paper, the chances are small but in the game, maybe you score a goal, you are a little bit lucky, so many things can happen," he said.

But the odds are heavily stacked against them after the loss to Costa Rica and injuries to their defensive linchpins.

Fan hurt his left foot in a warm-up match against Portugal in Macau two weeks ago and aggravated the injury in the Costa Rica game, according to a team doctor.

Sun damaged his ankle when he was scythed down by Costa Rican defender Luis Marin. An x-ray showed no bone damage but his ankle was badly sprained, the team doctor has said.

Milutinovic declined to reveal who would replace Fan and Sun, but sources close to the Chinese camp said defender Zhang Enhua and midfielder Qi Hong were likely contenders.

Probable teams...

Brazil: Marcos, Lucio, Polga, Junior, Cafu, Silva, Roberto Carlos, Juninho, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho.

China: Jin, Enhua, Weifeng, Chengying, Yunlong, Xiaopeng, Hong, Li Tie, Ma Mingyu, Haidong, Chen.

Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden).

On TV: Live on Ch12, RAI Uno at 1.30 p.m.