Rivaldo - admires Germany.

Brazil playmaker Rivaldo makes no attempt to hide his admiration for World Cup final opponents Germany.

"Germany are a great team," the Barcelona ace said.

"They are organised in defence, they have experience and tradition and a great goalkeeper in (Oliver) Kahn. I really respect them," he said, before declaring: "But we are going to win."

In the interview, with El Mundo Deportivo, Rivaldo spoke of the significance of reaching the final.

"Nobody gave Brazil a chance," he said. "We were really criticised during our qualification campaign and some terrible things were said.

"In the end that all helped us, nobody looked at Brazil. They talked about France, Argentina - everyone knew they would meet in the final.

"But now they are at home and we will play Germany and the truth is we deserve it because we have won all our games in the 90 minutes."

But for him reaching the final is a job only half done.

"Only being champions will satisfy us and the country," he said.

"It is little less than a fiasco to finish second. Tradition says we are four-time winners and that demands a lot."

He also brushed aside former German captain Franz Beckenbauer's assertion that Brazil were not entertaining.

"Are Germany entertaining? We try to play the ball all the time," he said.

"I honestly don't think there is another team in the World Cup apart from the Turks who play like us.

"I congratulate the Turks, they played really well against us, We knew they would play the semi-final against us in the same way they played the group game.

"The final gives me the chance for sporting revenge. I have never managed to wipe the memory of 1998 (France beat Brazil in the final) from my mind.

"The survivors of that game almost never talk about it, but the fact is that we all wanted to get to the final to wipe that nightmare away.

"This final will be won by concentrating and believing in our strength.

"Brazil are better than Germany, but we have to show it on the pitch by taking our chances."