The Brazilian maestro was expected to be assessed again at this evening’s Sydney FC training session following a shoulder injury.

He is desperate to play, his manager is desperate for him to play and arguably the only people hoping he fails to recover in time are the Wellington Phoenix party.

Culina believes the whole injury saga has simply reinforced the belief he had about Juninho and his character. This isn’t just a dazzling footballer, this is competitor still hungry to prove himself after all these years.

Far from taking on a great player with an ego to match, Culina is thrilled that fame has not created a footballing monster.

The Sydney FC coach knows the fans have yet to see the best of the 34-year-old but when they do, he is looking forward to seeing other members of the squad inspired to reach new heights.

He said: “I think you’ll find that when he really hits his top gear not only will he be terrific for the club but other players will lift as well.”

As for the superstar in their midst, Culina says there is little evidence of it, aside from on-field contributions.

He said: “You do not play 50 times for Brazil and win a World Cup if you don’t have a strong character. That’s something I’ve admired enormously about Juninho from day one.

“He could easily pretend to be somebody. Well, he is a somebody but he is one of the boys. Last week I gave him the option, before he got injured, of having a day off. He said ‘only if everyone else is having a day off’.

“If you asked someone else in the camp to do it, they’d jump at it, but not Juninho. So for that reason he’s a tremendous asset to us.”

Whether the Brazilian makes it or not, Culina has a much happier selection headache for this first Hyundai A-League meeting with the Phoenix than he had for last week’s trip to Perth.

Clint Bolton, Alex Brosque, Mark Milligan and Ruben Zadkovitch all come back into the mix following their respective international assignments.