Rivaldo delighted to get a game at last
16/11/2003
Rivaldo delighted to get a game at last
|
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's Rivaldo was delighted just to
get a game after scoring in the 1-1 draw away to Peru in Sunday's South
American World Cup qualifier.
Rivaldo, who has been condemned to the reserves at his Italian club AC Milan,
had not played a competitive game since his last outing for Brazil.
"I'm
very happy to have played, my last game was against Jamaica on October 12," he
told Brazilian television from Lima. "I'm ready for the next game on Wednesday."
"Everyone
thinks it's easy to come here and play Peru but that's not the case. We had a
lot of chances in the first half and if we had scored maybe it would have been
different."
Rivaldo gave Brazil a 21st minute lead with a penalty -- his first international
goal since the World Cup quarter-final win over England last year -- and the
world champions squandered several chances to increase their lead before
halftime.
They
eventually had to settle for a draw after Nolberto Solano headed a second-half
equaliser.
Brazil
headed straight from the Universitario stadium to Lima airport, where they were
due to catch a charter flight back home to Curitiba, where they face Uruguay on
Wednesday.
"We
created more chances," said Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. "We could have
scored three in the first half. But we needed to keep possession more in
midfield."
"Peru
had two chances, we had six. They caused us problems with their high crosses. We
gave away a lot of passes but we finished the game in their half."
Midfielder Gilberto Silva, who received the first booking of his international
career, had no complaints.
"It
was what we expected," he said of the game. "The Peruvians were very excited
about this game. They tried very hard and made life difficult.
"It
was a good game. We can't complain."