The little big man is back, and so is the samba rhythm

The Juninho interview: After the worst two years of his life, the Brazilian who lit up the Riverside can mean the world to his country. Andrew Longmore meets him

In the weeks before a World Cup, coaches find games where they can. Anything to break up the routine of training, lend some edge to the endless preparations. In Barcelona last week, the Brazilians were in town, preparing for a game of great significance against the Catalan Federation XI at the Nou Camp. Any chance to assert their regional autonomy is gratefully received here, not least in the week in which their arch rivals from the Castilian capital have been crowned champions of Europe once again.

But, even in the context of the World Cup, a game in the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday had a surreal air to it. Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, the likely starting strikeforce for Brazil, Cafu and Emerson, all were there and in the blue and white shirts, happily fulfilling the roles of stooges as long as they could tell their grandchildren, were Español reserves. Brazil won 5-0 appar-ently, though the Brazil coach, Luis "Big Phil" Scolari, was referee and one of the goals came from the third of a series of practice free-kicks. Brazil played in nameless yellow T-shirts, Ronaldo wore a training jacket. The crowd was more Telford than Maracana.

Yet there was a sense of anticipation, not least in the slight and familiar figure who arrived for the second half. There is still a joy in Juninho's play that echoes the streets of São Paulo or the futebol de salao court where he first learned to play, even those miserable afternoons at the Riverside – and there were plenty – on which the scampering waif exploded every illusion about the character and commitment of South American footballers. Mirandinha might have shrunk from the cold and the rain in the colours of Newcastle, regularly turning out in gloves and stockings, but every week, Juninho would run, chase and harry as if Teesside born. At the end of his first full season in Middlesbrough colours, 98 per cent of the fans voted for Juninho as Player of the Year. They launched a search party to find out where the other two per cent had been all year.

Juninho is happy now. He is back where he belongs, wearing the colours of his national team, maybe not first choice if Rivaldo is fully fit, but a significant part of Scolari's thinking. It is just reward. Four years ago, Juninho had readjusted his life to claim a place in Mario Zagalo's 1998 Brazilian side, moved from the Boro to Atletico Madrid as instructed, only to have his leg broken in a tackle by Michel Salgado, the Real Madrid full-back then playing for Celta Vigo, three months before the start of the tournament. Juninho's battle against time reached such Homeric proportions, that the Spanish press reported its progress daily, but the quest ended in failure. Zagalo was left unmoved by the efforts and little Juninho watched the World Cup from his family home in São Paulo.

"It was the first serious injury I'd had in my life," he recalled last week. "I was devastated. It was very hard. I thought I'd recovered from injury well enough to be selected and I lived in hope every day, but when the list came out, I wasn't on it." He shrugs. His life has moved on. But his career was shaped by the cruel timing of his absence. Who knows what Brazil might have achieved in France with a fit Juninho in midfield? For two years at Atletico, under Arrigo Sacchi and Claudio Ranieri, Juninho drifted, no longer the new Pele of his early days in the No 10 shirt of Brazil, more a refugee looking for guidance. He even returned to Middlesbrough for half a season to find that Brian Deane was wearing his No 10. The worst two years of his life, he says. "My coaches didn't give me the right environment to get back to full fitness," he says. "I needed calm and encouragement."

"Who's the schoolboy wearing Pele's shirt?" the Brazilian captain asked when Juninho made his international debut. The boy is now 29. Later, Dunga had the good grace to go down on one knee and apologise for his presumption. Inside, though, Juninho is older, wary of the world and its strange ways. "I am more experienced," he says. "I did things then I wouldn't do now."

It seems like a long time ago that he arrived on Teesside, to the sweet sound of samba bands and incredulity. No other transfer spoke of the Premier League's golden age so eloquently. Juninho to Manchester United would have been a story, to Liverpool or a London club perhaps. But it was the juxtaposition of the Copacabana and the Boro that was so appealingly bizarre. The resolutely unlovely, unsexy, unnoticed Boro. If Middlesbrough could attract the new Pele, what exotic treasures could more fashionable clubs acquire?

"I love the people there," says Juninho. "I'll never forget the support they gave me and everything they did for me. In England, life was so totally different, calmer in some ways, quiet but pleasant. I have a good feeling about everything in England, except that one game, against Leeds." The game that sealed Boro's relegation to the First Division and Juninho's move back to football's mainstream.

Juninho cried when Boro lost, genuine tears of remorse and sadness because he knew he would have to go, as Zagalo commanded. "I have a tape of my games at Middlesbrough, which I watch regularly," he adds. "I'd like to think I've helped Brazilians appreciate English football more. When I first said I was going to Middlesbrough, people said, 'It's very hard, it's all long ball and look at the size of you'. But there is a difference between watching English football and playing in it. You do have the space to play, you might not see the spaces, but they are there."

The appreciation was utterly mutual. In a season of two Cup finals and relegation, Juninho carried Boro. Fabrizio Ravanelli might have scored the goals, but Juninho provided 15 of his own and 38 assists, a tribute to his spirit. At the end of a particularly feisty afternoon against Wimbledon, he left the field, laughing, his head tucked under the brawny arm of Vinnie Jones. "I've not seen anyone overcome the difficulties he faced in quite such a complete way, on and off the field," said John Hendrie, his team-mate at the time. Bryan Robson, never a shirker himself, talked glowingly of Juninho's sheer love of the game, while the little village of Ingleby Barwick received its most famous guest, plus father Osvaldo, mother Lucia, sister Gislene, the constant flow of autograph hunters and the smell of feijoada (black bean and meat stew) as if twinned with the São Paulo suburb where Juninho was born and brought up.

But that was yesterday. Juninho is looking for a move or at least some sign of interest from Atletico Madrid, who are back again in the top flight. Juninho has spent the past two seasons in Brazil, helping Vasco da Gama, where his beloved Zico once played, to the championship and earning back his place in the Brazilian team. The World Cup will be an ideal stage from which to peddle his talents once more. If only he gets the air time.

"There's a lot of competition for places, for sure," he says. "It depends on which formation the coach decides to play. Rivaldo will definitely be fit. He's training now and if he plays, that restricts my opportunities. But, after what happened last time, I'm just very happy to be involved."

It would need to be a vintage Brazilian side for Juninho not to exert some influence over the next month. Scolari's background as a robust defender and coaching hard man has discouraged visions of the beautiful game, but since Brazil finally emerged from a chaotic qualifying campaign, in which they went through three coaches and used 63 players, some semblance of normality has returned to the green and gold. And Ronaldo is fit again.

"He looks as if he is back to his best," says Juninho. "Mentally, too, he seems to be enjoying himself. I know what it's like to be badly injured. Football means more to him than before. He's been through so much in the last two years and he knows now what he could lose, so he wants to enjoy every minute."

With a rejuvenated Ronaldo, alongside his protégé, Ronaldinho, with midfielders of the class of Emerson and Rivaldo harnessed to the energies of Roberto Carlos and Cafu, the Brazilians are starting to justify their position among the favourites that once seemed to owe more to history or sentiment than form. Scolari has rejected the claims of the ageing, gifted, but still troublesome Romario. This Brazil will not be riven by the internal strife of Zagalo's last squad. Whether they are good enough to overcome France or Argentina, the tournament favourites, is a closed question in Brazil, but open elsewhere.

"You cannot do much with your name alone," laughs Juninho. "Colombia were tipped to win the World Cup in 1994 and never got out of the group. Everyone's talking about France, Argentina, Italy. Argentina are nice, I like watching them. But it's a very different thing talking off the field and talking on it. Brazil had difficulties in qualifying, Argentina didn't, but that doesn't mean anything. Spain have good players, but are they going to blend together as a team? England have great individual talent. I like Owen, his directness. When the ball comes, he is away to goal. England could win it." Pause. "But no, they would have to get past Brazil to do that." And that is not a conclusion worth contemplating. So what about Brazil under Scolari?

"It's not easy being the coach of Brazil – 170 million Brazilians pick their own teams. You live under incredible pressure because being runner-up in the World Cup is meaningless for a Brazilian. But that makes us focus more. Scolari's very different when you get to know him. He's very approachable and friendly, he likes a joke, but he likes hard work and he's very close to his players. He treats them as equals. Perhaps we will be more concerned with defence and marking under Scolari, but only in order to give more freedom to the creative players. That is the balance we need. We have to adapt to the World Cup. Defence isn't an absolute priority."

A Brazil v England quarter-final would revive memories, maybe even test allegiances in Ingleby Barwick. Juninho's blend of Brazilian skill and English heart helped to bring greater harmony to two thundering footballing cultures. "English football is more honest," he says. "They don't cheat. There is more malice in Brazilian football, pulling shirts, bodychecking and I love the supporters in England. I got better appreciation on opposition grounds in England than I ever did in Spain. It's nice to be appreciated."

Juninho's future beyond the World Cup has yet to be decided. Spain or England? "I have a two-year contract with Atletico and I hope I can sort things out. I'd like to play in Spain, then in England. My heart says I'll play in England again." He is still a close student of English football and is a devotee of a channel in Brazil which shows all the Premiership games.

The League is good, he says, because of the extra competition. "It's not just Arsenal and Manchester United, it's Liverpool, Leeds, Chelsea. English football can't change. If you tried to change it, it wouldn't be so good to watch." That did not stop Juninho from trying. Brazil might yet get to see the best of the little man.

Biography: Oswaldo Giroldo Juninho

Born: 22 February 1973, in São Paulo.

Position: Attacking midfielder.

Clubs played for: Juventus, Corinthians, Ituano, São Paulo, Middlesbrough (twice), Atletico Madrid, Vasco da Gama, Flamengo.

International career: Brazil (selected for Japan/Korea 2002).

English memories: Arrived at Middlesbrough from São Paulo in 1995. Had been spotted by Bryan Robson and arrived at the Riverside to the strains of a samba band and the cheers of over 5,000 fans. Became an instant favourite. Left for Atletico Madrid for £12m at the end of the '96-97 season, but Boro had first refusal on his signature if they decided to sell. Juninho returned to the Riverside on a short-term deal in 1999.

In the family: His father, Oswaldo Giroldo, also acts as his agent.

Humble beginnings: First showed potential on the dusty streets of São Paulo aged six. Did not play in an 11-a-side game until 14.