Veteran Brazil striker Romario's agonising wait to discover whether he is going to the World Cup will finally end on Monday when coach Luiz Felipe Scolari names his squad.

Romario, who remains one of the world's most deadly penalty-area specialists at the age of 36, has mysteriously been ignored by Scolari since captaining the team last July in a 1-0 defeat by Uruguay.

But the former Barcelona player says he will not give up hope of going to his third and final World Cup until the man known as Big Phil reads out his list of 23 players at 1400 local time (1700 GMT) on Monday.

"This is one of the most anxious moments of my entire career," Romario told reporters.

"The fact that I'm not a certainty in the list, which is new for me, is getting to me. But I'm at peace with myself because I know that even if I'm not picked, I know I have done my best."

Romario has failed to impress Scolari despite averaging over a goal-a-game in club football this year.

Not even a tearful public out-

burst, in which Romario admitted that his dream was to go to South Korea and Japan, was enough to soften the heart of the man known as Big Phil.

Scolari has repeatedly said that "tactical and technical reasons" have kept Romario out of the team.

Media have interpreted this as Scolari's way of saying that Romario just stands in the penalty area and waits for the ball to come to him.

Meanwhile, Brazilians wonder whether a possible act of indiscipline in Montevideo or subsequent criticism in the media may be behind Scolari's Romario snub.

Romario's hopes suffered a major setback two weeks ago when Vasco da Gama were knocked out of both competitions they had been

taking part in.

Then on Wednesday a glimmer of hope appeared when Scolari told a newspaper that he selected 22 players but still had to decide on one more.

"Perhaps I'm the missing one," Romario said.

But it would still be a major surprise if Romario were to be suddenly included after so many rejections.

More likely, Monday's announcement will sound the death knell for his World Cup career.

The other major doubts concern midfielders Djalminha and Rivaldo.

Djalminha could pay a heavy price for this week's incident in which he head-butted coach Javier Irureta during training at Deportivo Coruna.

Scolari has said repeatedly that he wants to create a family atmosphere and may decide that the risk of Djaminha causing a family squabble is simply too high.

Rivaldo's recent injury problems could make him a liability although it is unlikely that Scolari will discard him yet.

Scolari has another month to pick a replacement should Rivaldo's troublesome knee still be playing up when the tournament gets under way.

Whether Rivaldo -- frequently accused of saving his best for Barcelona -- can produce his top form at international level is a different matter.