The squad for the Argentina clash again consists only of domestic-based players, and includes a few new faces; Elkeson and Borges have been rewarded for their excellent Brasileirão form, and Diego Souza earns a recall some two years after last being selected. Coritiba defender Emerson is the surprise name on the list, but Leandro Damião misses out through injury.
Brace yourself; Botafogo attacker Elkeson has been in fine fettle this term.The full squad for the superclássico is as follows:
Jefferson (Botafogo)
Rafael (Santos)
Danilo (Santos)
Mário Fernandes (Grêmio)
Bruno Cortês (Botafogo)
Kléber (Internacional)
Dedé (Vasco da Gama)
Réver (Atlético-MG)
Rhodolfo (São Paulo)
Emerson (Coritiba)
Ralf (Corinthians)
Paulinho (Corinthians)
Casemiro (São Paulo)
Rômulo (Vasco da Gama)
Lucas (São Paulo)
Diego Souza (Vasco da Gama)
Oscar (Internacional)
Elkeson (Botafogo)
Borges (Santos)
Neymar (Santos)
Fred (Fluminense)
Ronaldinho Gaúcho (Flamengo)
The squad for the Mexico and Costa Rica games also contains a number of surprises. Fábio da Silva earns his first senior call-up despite hardly having played for Manchester United this term, whilst young Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto has also been drafted in. Yet more intriguing is the selection of Porto striker Kléber, who is a relatively unknown quantity in Brazil. Lúcio has been left out of this latest squad, and has been replaced by Atlético-MG stopper Réver. Pleasingly, SKP favourite Hernanes has finally earnt a recall.
Surprise inclusion: Porto striker Kléber.The full squad for the matches against Costa Rica and Mexico is as follows:
Júlio César (Internazionale)
Jefferson (Botafogo)
Neto (Fiorentina)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Fábio da Silva (Manchester United)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Adriano (Barcelona)
Thiago Silva (Milan)
David Luiz (Chelsea)
Réver (Atlético-MG)
Dedé (Vasco da Gama)
Lucas Leiva (Liverpool)
Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur)
Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Luiz Gustavo (Bayern Munich)
Elias (Sporting)
Oscar (Internacional)
Hernanes (Lazio)
Neymar (Santos)
Hulk (Porto)
Kléber (Porto)
Ronaldinho Gaúcho (Flamengo)
Fred (Fluminense)
Jonas (Valencia)
(Photo credits; (1) Gazeta Press, (2) Unknown.)
Do you think Kleber deserves the call up? His time at Porto hasn't been the best, but it might bring out the best in Hulk... i'm torn there to be honest. Surprisingly happy with the rest of the selections - back line is solid, although I don't think you can compare Rever to Lucio, and I would put Jadson and Michel Bastos in instead of Luiz Gustavo and Elias, but nothing majorly wrong. I do hope he doesn't persist with Ronaldinho, if we start basing our squad on him, we will be ruined for 2014.
ReplyDeleteI'm also happy in the main.
ReplyDeleteKléber is a really strange one, but he definitely wouldn't be there if Leandro Damião was fit. Still, someone like Nilmar would be a more sensible choice.
Not a huge Réver fan either, but I guess it'll be Thiago Silva starting with either David Luiz or Dedé... both of whom I like.
As for Luiz Gustavo... I think he needs to at least get on the pitch this time!
Jonas still annoys me - similar player to Nilmar, but not nearly up to his class. Ramires deserves his spot as well, his playing under Villas-Boas has been excellent.
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm back to say "WHO THE HELL IS THIS KLÉBER GUY?!". That was it.
ReplyDeleteHahaha
ReplyDelete