Ronaldo in, Rivaldo out for Paraguay qualifier

Ronaldo, who has missed Real Madrid's last two games through injury, has been included in Brazil's squad for a World Cup qualifier in Paraguay this month.

Rivaldo, who last month quit Cruzeiro in solidarity with sacked coach Vanderley Luxemburgo, was left out as expected as coach Carlos Alberto Parreira named his squad on Tuesday.

Ronaldo will also miss Real's King's Cup final against Real Zaragoza on Wednesday but Brazil are hopeful he will be ready to face Paraguay, who lead the South American World Cup qualifying group, in Asuncion on March 31.

World champions Brazil, who lost the corresponding fixture 2-1 in the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup, will need all the firepower they can muster against notoriously difficult and determined opponents.

Paraguay have won their last three qualifiers while Brazil were held to draws with Peru and Uruguay in their last two competitive outings and played out a goalless stalemate with Ireland in a friendly in February.

There were no major surprises as Parreira finally lost patience with Rivaldo.

The 2002 World Cup winner had kept his place in the team last year when he was shunted into the reserves at AC Milan. But his decision to leave Cruzeiro after just 50 days and ten matches appeared to be the final straw.

Goalkeepers - Dida (AC Milan, Italy), Marcos (Palmeiras).

Defenders - Cafu (AC Milan, Italy), Belletti (Villarreal, Spain), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, Spain), Junior (Siena, Italy), Lucio (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Roque Junior (Siena, Italy), Juan (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Edmilson (Olympique Lyon, France).

Midfielders - Gilberto Silva (Arsenal, England), Kleberson (Manchester United, England), Ze Roberto (Bayern Munich, Germany), Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyon, France), Kaka (AC Milan, Italy), Renato (Santos), Julio Baptista (Sevilla, Spain), Alex (Cruzeiro).

Forwards - Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Spain), Luis Fabiano (Sao Paulo), Adriano (Inter Milan, Italy), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Spain).