Butt - praise at last (Allsport).

By John Curtis, PA Sport, Kobe

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Paul Scholes has praised the performances of his England midfield "minder" Nicky Butt and claimed: "He is finally getting the recognition that he deserves."

Manchester United team-mates Scholes and Butt have proved to be the perfect foil for each other during the World Cup finals and will be key figures in Friday's quarter-final clash with Brazil.

Their pairing has happened almost by accident as it was only an injury to Owen Hargreaves in the early stages against Argentina which led to Sven-Goran Eriksson moving Scholes from a left-sided role to alongside Butt, but it has paid handsome dividends.

Butt has been the ideal holding player in the centre of the park, breaking up attacks but also setting up moves and it was his pass which found Michael Owen for his goal against Denmark on Saturday.

This has enabled Scholes to have fewer defensive responsibilities and get forward to support the attack, although that first England goal in 12 months is still eluding him.

While the qualities of Scholes have constantly been highlighted, Butt seldom caught the headlines until Japan and Korea despite having been at Old Trafford and a key member of the United squad.

Scholes said: "The way that Nicky has performed in this tournament doesn't surprise me. I've played with him for a good few years now and I know just how good he really is.

"He's been like that ever since he came into the side. He hadn't played for four or five weeks before the game with Argentina because of a knee injury and his performance that night was magnificent.

"I do think that it is only now that he is starting to get the recognition he finally deserves. For some reason a lot of the critics have been surprised by how well he has done - but no-one is surprised in our camp."

Scholes is relishing the challenge of pitting his wits against Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Co but insists there is "still more to come" from England.

He said: "Brazil are a great team and difficult to stop and it excites you to know you are going to play against Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

"You come to the tournament wanting to play the best and Brazil are probably the best team left in this tournament.

"It was a surprise that they struggled to qualify for the finals. They then cruised through their group but we can take heart from the way Belgium played against them on Monday.

"They did look quite dangerous against them and that has given us a bit of hope.

"We are playing well but there is still more to come from us. We did all we had to do against Denmark but we feel we can play better."

The only dark cloud for Scholes has been his inability to find the net for his country since scoring in the 2-0 success over Greece in Athens last June.

He said: "I would love a goal on Friday. It would be great to score against Brazil.

"I hadn't realised it had been so long since my last England goal until someone pointed it out to me recently.

"It's been a while but it's a team game and if other players score and we keep on winning, then it doesn't matter who is on target."