Ronaldo is set to come up against Manchester United teammate Gary Neville, with both men expected to have recovered from injuries, while Figo will pit his wits with former Real Madrid colleague David Beckham.

Neville knows he will have his hands full with Ronaldo's trickery, having watched him run rings around many a defender in the English Premiership.

"It's very difficult to play against Cristiano," he said.

"With his quality, speed and skill, you've got to get so tight to him so he can't begin to run. There are times during the game, because of the fact Portugal do keep the ball well, that he will get at you.

"We knew two years ago, with Simao (Sabrosa), Ronaldo and Figo, it's very important and we have to defend well one-on-one on Saturday."

Neville, who has recovered from a calf injury that forced him to miss England's last three games, was referring to England's loss to Portugal at the same stage in the European Championships in 2004.

Winger Ronaldo, 21, resumed light training on Wednesday after picking up a thigh injury in Portugal's victory over the Netherlands, and Neville warned he was the sort of player that needed watching every minute of the match.

"The difficulty any defender has playing against Ronaldo is you can play brilliantly against him for 89 minutes, but he can still produce a magical moment in the 90th minute," he said.

Wayne Rooney, also a Manchester United teammate of Ronaldo, would prefer if he was not playing, if only to give England a better chance of winning.

"Although I want him fit it would be nice if he could just miss our game because he is a great player," he said.

"If he plays it will be a tough job for us - I have played with him week-in, week-out for the last three years and he is a handful for any team and hopefully we can keep him quiet on the day."

With midfielders Costinha and Deco suspended and unable to play, Figo's role will become even more important to Portugal as they look to make a World Cup semi final for the first time since 1966.

He may well move into Deco's central midfield position with Benfica's pacy striker Simao filling the void on the left flank.

"I think Luis is one of the best players in the world and has been for a while. He's played for many big clubs and performed, and well, at the highest level for years," said Beckham.

"So he could cause problems for any team and any defences and he's one player that we always have to watch."

For his part, Figo said he respected Beckham as a friend and "one of the best players we have in football at the moment".

But he added that it would all be put to one side on Saturday with Brazil or France waiting for the winner in the semi-final.