Boro have to wait for Juninho

Juninho's Middlesbrough debut looks to be on hold after his manager, Bryan Robson, said last night that the club were still awaiting international clearance to fly the player from Brazil. "Friday is the first possibility he could get here and he might not even be on that plane, so it's looking unlikely for Saturday," Robson said.

The Brazilian now looks sets to make his first appearance at the Riverside Stadium the following weekend against Leeds.

Any fears that Juninho might find it difficult to come to terms with the rough and tumble of the Premiership were put into perspective by Tuesday's South American Supercup match involving his old team-mates, Sao Paulo, who were playing at their Brazilian rivals, Cruzeiro.

Sao Paulo took the lead in the ninth minute, but it was Cruzeiro's Rogerio who really got things going by kicking an opponent in the face, for which he was duly sent off. His team-mates protested to the referee, and Vanderci, Fabinho and Marcelo were shown the red card.

At the start of the second half, Cruzeiro's Luis Fernando Gomes limped off injured and the referee was obliged to abandon the match as Cruzeiro, with all three substitutes on, were down to six players - below the minimum number required. The result stood.