It is Brazil v Argentina. But its Brazil v Argentina with domestic based players only. And it comes two weeks after one really boring 0-0 draw between the two teams which had only one memorable moment: Leandro Damião’s piece of skill. He unfortunately misses out on this game through injury so I’m wondering where all the action will come from.
That beautiful piece of skill is It’s called a lambreta in Portuguese by the way. Anybody know what that’s called in English? Somebody told me it is called a rainbow flick. I guess they were just making that up. Suggestions welcome.
The match the second leg of this rather strange tournament (called the Superclássico das Américas) and will be played this Wednesday night in the Amazon jungle town of Belém. Due to the call up rules, it means we won’t be seeing the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Agí¼ero, Carlos Tevez or Pato (most Brazilians really not too bothered by that I think it’s fair to say). It does mean Neymar and Ronaldinho though. Come to think of it, the selection limitations clearly favour Brazil in this match.
The incredibly talented Paulinho has been ruled out of this friendly through injury (sense the sarcasm). Rather bizarrely Grêmio’s talented young right back Mário Fernandes has pulled out of the squad for ”personal reasons”. Nobody really knows what that means but he didn’t turn up at the airport and the CBF only found out through his press officer later in the day. The statement said that he would not be playing in the match due to personal problems responsible for a high level of stress.
Strangely, in 2009, the same player went AWOL for two weeks just after he signed for Grêmio. The police were called to investigate his absence and the player later showed up at his uncle’s house in São Paulo. Go figure that one out.
Interestingly, Argentina have called up four Brazilian based players for the match: Montillo (who has scored 12 goals from midfield for struggling Cruzeiro in the Serie A this year) and Internacional trio D’Alessandro (ex-Portsmouth), Bolatti (ex-Fiorentina) and Guií±azú. D’Alessandro has since had to pull out with injury.
So, Borges finally (and deservedly gets his first call up). The other new players are: Rafael (Santos), Emerson (Coritiba) and Elkeson (Botafogo). Diego Souza does have a cap for Brazil but it is his first call up for roughly two years. Too bad that both Leandro Damião and Ganso are missing for Brazil.
Here is the full squad and a couple of training pictures from Monday’s session.
Goalkeepers
Jefferson (Botafogo)
Rafael (Santos)
Full backs
Danilo (Santos)
Mário Fernandes (Grêmio)
Bruno Cortês (Botafogo)
Kleber (Internacional)
Centre backs
Dedé (Vasco)
Réver (Atlético-MG)
Rhodolfo (São Paulo)
Emerson (Coritiba)
Defensive midfielders
Ralf (Corinthians)
Paulinho (Corinthians)
Casemiro (São Paulo)
Rí´mulo (Vasco)
Attacking midfielders
Lucas (São Paulo)
Oscar (Internacional)
Diego Souza (Vasco)
Elkeson (Botafogo)
Forwards
Ronaldinho Gaúcho (Flamengo)
Neymar (Santos)
Fred (Fluminense)
Borges (Santos)
Incidentally, Mano Menezes has also announced the Brazil squad for two more friendly matches against Costa Rica and Mexico (to be played ). The squad for these two games does include overseas based players.
Goalkeepers
Julio César (Inter de Milão)
Jefferson (Botafogo)
Neto (Fiorentina)
Full backs
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Fábio (Manchester United)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Adriano (Barcelona)
Centre backs
Réver (Atlético-MG)
Thiago Silva (Milan)
David Luiz (Chelsea)
Dedé (Vasco)
Defensive midfielders
Lucas Leiva (Liverpool)
Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Sandro (Tottenham)
Luiz Gustavo (Bayern Munich)
Attacking midfielders
Lucas (São Paulo)
Elias (Sporting)
Oscar (Internacional)
Hernanes (Lazio)
Forwards
Ronaldinho Gaúcho (Flamengo)
Hulk (Porto)
Jonas (Valencia)
Neymar (Santos)
Kleber (Porto)
Fred (Fluminense)
Good to see Hernanes get another chance. Interesting call ups for young striker Kléber of Porto and Fábio (Manchester United) Not so good to see Fernandinho’s name still there!!!
Like Brazilian football? Follow on Facebook and Twitter; sign up for email alerts; leave a comment; join the debate.
Pingback: Expected Brazil line-up v Argentina | Brazilian Football Blog
Pingback: Walter Montillo: a legend retires | Brazilian Football Blog
thank you for sharing this article