He brought Samba football to Teesside and enchanted a generation of football fans, writes STEVEN BAKER.

He has revived Brazil's fortunes after five years in the international wilderness and the agony of an horrific broken leg.

He is Juninho, and he will tomorrow try to break the hearts of those fans who once feted him.

While Fabrizio Ravanelli fought with his teammates and Emerson walked out on them, Juninho embodied everything that was good about Middlesbrough when they went down.

He chased down every lost cause, battled for every loose ball and gave his all for a team that was self-destructing around him.

Now, in a side that can harness his talents properly, he is recapturing the form that persuaded Bryan Robson to tempt him to Middlesbrough in 1995.

The midfielder was man-of-the-match against Belgium on Monday and is provider-in-chief for Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

But Juninho, 29, matched his on-field exploits with some, er, colourful adventures off the pitch.

When he left Middlesbrough for Atletico Madrid in July 1997, he departed sporting a black eye after an altercation outside his house.

Two men who were lying in wait attacked him at 3am as he returned to his house in Ingleby Barwick.

A witness said: "One of the men was shouting: 'Leave my woman alone'. I got the impression that Juninho had been seeing his girlfriend."

As if that injury wasn't bad enough, life got much worse for Juninho just six months into his Primera Liga career.

His leg was shattered by a crude challenge while playing against Celta Vigo, leaving him facing a lengthy period of recuperation and his World Cup dreams in tatters.

Refusing to take heed of the adage that one should never go back, Robson lured Juninho to the Riverside again in September 1999.

But it was never the same. The ball, like the Boro fans, was never quite under his magic spell like before, and he was allowed to leave again at the end of the season.

How Middlesbrough must be ruing that decision now. Juninho, whose name is thought to mean "Little June" in Portuguese, is enjoying his month in the Far East.

It is Flamengo who offered him the chance to salvage his career, and he has grasped the opportunity with both hands.

Middlesbrough fans, and indeed all England supporters, must now hope Brazil aren't dancing to his Samba beat tomorrow.