Brazil has confirmed their 26-man selecao or squad for the Qatar World Cup and it includes a plethora of Premier League stars, which is not surprising at all given the popularity of the ‘samba’ players in the UK.
There were a lot of notable absentees in the list which is very surprising for some but coach Tite has perhaps decided to go with a younger generation squad in these competitions.
Naming the squad on Monday, we notice the absence of Premier League duo Roberto Firmino and Gabriel Magalhaes – while Philippe Coutinho had already been ruled out due to injury.
Neymar, who is a colourful player not only by his appearance but also by his style of play and dives, is part of the squad.
This is one chance he may not miss to make his mark on history and win the cup for Brazil, but he is bound to become the top all-time goalscorer for Brazil in World Cup competitions. That will be a major feat for the player.
Another unmissable figure in the squad is Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus. One of the top scorers this season in the Premier League, Jesus is a regular feature in the Brazil squad, in and out of the World Cup, similar to Neymar.
Jesus is also a better build-up striker compared to others on the list. He is also a better-goal scorer, with much more pace and pressing ability, he looked extremely sharp in his game.
Another Arsenal player is Gabriel Martinelli and he makes it into the final squad for Qatar along with Chelsea’s Thiago Silva, Manchester United’s Casemiro, Fred and Antony, Liverpool’s Fabinho and Spurs’ Richarlison.
They will all form a powerful Latin American team and it will be very interesting to see how they defend the colours of their country, certainly after the recent debacles Brazil has suffered during World Cups.
Brazil’s World Cup participations
The country has not won the trophy since 2002, which is 20 years ago. They faced a 24-year drought without a trophy when they won it in 1970 and failed to reach the final until 1994.
In 1998, they were humiliated by a poweful French side that won the cup for the first time in their history with a 3-0 win with Zinedine Zidane leaving Brazil licking to lick wounds.
And how to forget the complete bashing in 2014 when half the world woke up to Brazil, the mighty champions and great football nation, getting defeated 7-1 by Germany in Brazil itself.
Will the current squad make a difference?
More FIFA World Cup stories can be found here.