Lesigny (France), June 2: Brazilian striker Romario was dropped from his country's World Cup squad today because team officials said he had not recovered from a calf muscle injury. Brazil coach Mario Zagallo said Romario had failed fitness tests over the weekend and would be replaced in the World Cup squad by mid-fielder Emerson who plays for Bayer Leverkusen.Zagallo told a news conference that Romario was still suffering pain in his calf and that the injury could take between 10 days and a month to heal. He said team officials had decided not to risk including him in the squad. Brazil play in the opening match against Scotland on June 10.Romario, star of the 1994 World Cup which Brazil won, had not trained with the team since they assembled for the finals in France last month. Tuesday is the last day for the 32 teams playing in France to register their squads of 22 players with world soccer's governing body FIFA.FANS RATTLED: Shocked by their team's mediocre performance in Sunday's 1-1 friendlyagainst Athletic Bilbao, Brazilian fans are beginning to think the unthinkable they may not win a fifth World Cup, according to reports from capital Brasilia. Nine days before their debut against Scotland, the world champions are on the brink of crisis following a sloppy and disjointed display against the Spaniards. Coming on the heels of a disappointing display against amateur Paris side Racing, the match nudged die-hard fans to the brink of heresy by raising the possibility their team may struggle to bring home another World Cup. A phone-in survey on Globo television following Sunday's game found 57 percent of supporters were ``terrified'' about their prospects in the tournament while 31 percent declared themselves ``pessimistic.''Only 11 percent were confident Brazil would flatten the competition, down from a crushing 70 percent who had confidently predicted victory earlier in the week.``Team getting worse every time,'' screamed Monday's edition of Daily Jornal De Brasilia. ``It was hard being asupporter,'' said Correio Braziliense. Commentators rained criticism on Brazil's players for failing to come together as a team.
