Soccer: Brazil stars can samba night away

Brazil's players are free to frequent nightspots on their days off, the world champions' coach Carlos Alberto Parreira says.

Parreira said there was nothing wrong with the behaviour of Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Emerson, who were photographed in a bar by a Swiss newspaper late on Tuesday after their friendly against an FC Lucerne Select.

"There's nothing to say about a day off," Parreira said. "A day off is a day off. They can do what they want as long as they're back in the hotel at the stipulated time.

"I've never worried about this before and I'm not going to worry about it now as long as it's within the limits," he said.

The photographs showed Ronaldo improvising as a disc-jockey while Carlos and Emerson posed with fans.

Carlos said: "All I did was to go out with some friends - nothing more than that. We were happy with the win," he said after Brazil romped to an 8-0 victory.

Parreira paid tribute to midfielder Edmilson, who was ruled out of the World Cup earlier this week following an injury to his right knee.

Edmilson, who played in the winning World Cup 2002 team, returned to the side last November following a seven-month layoff with an injury to the same knee.

"The technical staff had to make a decision and we did," said Parreira. "It wasn't pleasant but we had to face it."