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Former England international Emile Heskey has revealed that he was ridiculed when Rivaldo picked him over Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and David Beckham to hypothetically play for Brazil.
Rivaldo, one of Brazil's greatest-ever players, won the FIFA World Cup 2002 in Japan and Korea with Le Selecao. They beat Germany 2-0 in the final, courtesy of a Ronaldo Nazario brace.
Luiz Felipe Scolari's team beat England in the quarter-finals of the tournament. After Michael Owen gave the Three Lions the lead in the 23rd minute, Rivaldo equalized from a Ronaldinho pass in the injury time of the first half (45+2').
Ronaldinho then dinked his long-range free-kick over David Seaman in the 50th minute to secure the win for his country. Despite the Brazilian legend getting sent off in the 57th minute, Le Selecao held on to their lead.
Heskey started the match and played the full 90 minutes. He recently reminisced Rivaldo selecting him to be a part of the World Cup-winning star-studded Brazil team, and said (via SportBIBLE):
"We played against Brazil in the 2002 World Cup and Rivaldo did a piece, who out of the England team would get in the Brazil side? He picked me... I was fine with that! I knew I could [fit into that Brazil team well], but I was ridiculed for it."
When asked why he thought the 1999 Ballon d'Or winner picked him despite Sven Goran-Eriksson's team having bigger names, Heskey said:
"Because he played against me. I think it was all-round play I bring to a team, and he'd seen that. I played against him for Liverpool against Barcelona. We drew away and beat them at home, so he has seen everything I brought to a team."
The loss to Brazil ended England's campaign. The south American giants, on the other hand, defeated Turkey 1-0 (Ronaldo 49') in the semi-final to secure their passage to the final, where they played Germany.
A glance at former England international Emile Heskey's career
Emile Heskey didn't have the superstar status quo that the likes of Michael Owen, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, and Steven Gerrard had. Heskey, though, had a good career.
He played for England 62 times at the international level, scoring seven goals. Heskey also represented clubs like Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leicester City, and more at the club level.
He made 223 appearances for the Reds, scoring 60 goals and providing 29 assists. Heskey hung up the boots in 2016, with Bolton Wanderers being his last club.
