On the list; Santos playmaker Ganso.The full squad is as follows;
Júlio César (Internazionale)
Victor (Grêmio)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Maicon (Internazionale)
André Santos (Fenerbahçe)
Adriano (Barcelona)
Lúcio (Internazionale)
Thiago Silva (Milan)
David Luiz (Chelsea)
Luisão (Benfica)
Ramires (Chelsea)
Lucas Leiva (Liverpool)
Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur)
Elias (Atlético Madrid)
Elano (Santos)
Jádson (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Lucas (São Paulo)
Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos)
Fred (Fluminense)
Alexandre Pato (Milan)
Robinho (Milan)
Neymar (Santos)
There are very few surprises among the goalkeepers and defenders; Victor gets the nod over Fábio for the role of reserve goalkeeper, whilst Menezes continues to overlook Real Madrid left back Marcelo. The likes of Anderson and Henrique have failed to work their way into contention for the defensive midfield positions, with Mano keeping faith with Lucas Leiva, Ramires, and Sandro. Further forward, Jádson's impressive display against Romania may have helped earn him a spot, and São Paulo prodigy Lucas also makes the cut.
The most interesting selection, however, is that of Fred. The Fluminense man has only played around 100 minutes of football under Menezes, the majority of them spent marooned up front against Holland on Saturday. His goal against Romania, however, coupled with his recent club form, evidently proved enough for him to get the nod over players like Hulk and Leandro Damião. Many will also be surprised at the omission of Nilmar, who would have provided excellent back-up for Neymar or Robinho in the support striker roles. I, for one, would have included him at the expense of Elias.
Brazil play their first match in the Copa on the 3rd of July, meeting Venezuela in La Plata. Menezes will be desperately hoping that Pato and Ganso prove their fitness before that date; otherwise, this Brazil side could be worryingly reliant on Neymar.
(Photo credit; Santos website.)
Fred was a poor choice in my opinion. Hulk has been one of the hottest forwards in Europe this season and is in a similar mould of Pato, much more useful.
ReplyDeleteMeneze's selections always make me worried, I still cannot understand his argument for bringing Andre Santos - he explained it would be hard to bring along a player like Marcelo who essentially is another winger like Dani Alves, even though that's exactly what Andre Santos does during the match...as well as Adriano. Why couldn't he bring in Rafael or Fabio, Champions League runner-ups? We need to think about the future, I don't want a 31 year-old Andre Santos as our left-back in 2014.
I also think Kaka should have been given a shout, even though Menezes uses too many volantes I would rather see him get a chance to make something happen as a substitute. But frankly that's not the biggest issue at hand, Lucas, Ganso, and Elano are more than capable of filling that role, but leaving Hulk behind could come back to get us.
I agree about Hulk... shame Menezes hasn't found a way to fit him in somewhere. Kaká is also an interesting one... played well towards the end of the season, and could certainly be useful to have around.
ReplyDeleteThe Marcelo thing is still a bit puzzling, but I'm a big fan of André Santos. He and Neymar link up well down the left.
where kaka.....
ReplyDeleteNot in the squad.
ReplyDelete