Germany, the side who were closer to humiliation than Mike Tyson on the Memphis canvas, the team who looked shot through and lacking even potential talent when England mastered them at Euro 2000 and last September in Munich. There is a piquant irony about it all, unless you're a myopic England follower, in which case it's a simply perverse denial of natural justice.Maybe something in our Europhile soul will demand that our fellow EC members will prosper today Not a chance. Whatever his instincts, "Big Phil" has turned out to be a philanthropist with the talents at his disposal, not a Philistine as so many denounced him.So, this may not be the most beautiful, perfectly formed Brazil as personified by Tostao, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, Rivelino, Pele, of course, and that wonderful character, the chain-smoking Gerson, in that sublime team coached by Zagallo in 1970. But it is far from the wretched harridan which many assumed she would be.Just as Germany toiled to qualify in England's group, so Brazil left it late before finishing the South American section in third place They arrived, depicted as the poor descendants of 1970. But isn't that always part of the Brazilian art of deception? They can delude the best into a perception that they are performing without wit and cohesion, and then strike with the finality of a viper's bite.Two of the celebrated trio of R & R men have required a plentiful supply of rest and recuperation before and during these finals but, unlike certain England men, their respective injuries have not inhibited the performances of either Ronaldo and Rivaldo Eleven tournament goals between them is testimony to that.

The third, Ronaldinho, returns after suspension with a hungry desire to inflict his own personality on the game.Ronaldo, will always be the favoured son among Brazilian aficionados, but Rivaldo, he of the smouldering, slightly sinister countenance, whose strange shuffling gait, arms tucked into his chest, is somehow reminiscent of a trussed turkey, is in his own way the more influential. The bandy legs give the appearance of a man who has just dismounted Trigger rather than a man who so readily pulls it, but Germany's Kahn will not want to be exposed too frequently to the wickedness of Rivaldo's delivery.Some assert that the conflicting egos of Ronaldo and Rivaldo, both on an individual quest for the Golden Boot, could be counter-productive in this most intense of environment. But one suspects that the common good, particular in light of all the traumas of four years ago, will prevail. "It's not an easy game but I'm not worried," said Rivaldo last night, after a relaxed training stint at Yokohama Stadium "I'm happy to be in the final and I'm quite calm I am lucky to be playing in my second final I know what it means.

I have been given another chance and this time I will not miss it."Such is the emphasis on the Two Ronnies and Rivaldo, that it is easy to dismiss the remainder as support cast who are strong and disciplined in their defensive duties but otherwise uninspired by the historic standards of the South Americans.Yet, there is movement throughout the team. Even Gilberto Silva, the nearest Brazil come to a holding midfielder, joins the attack frequently. This is a man who scored three goals in his first four internationals. The defenders Lucio and Roque Junior are capable of excellent passing and relish forward forays, while width is the province of those experienced wing-backs Roberto Carlos and Cafu.There will be many back in England who will speak contemptuously of this as a confrontation between two unexceptional teams who got lucky in a year when the underdogs snapped like pitbulls at fancy poodles and cleared the passage for them. The draw has certainly been kind, considerably more so to Germany.It remains to be seen whether V?r's team can withstand an examination by men of such scintillating talent.