10 superstars who could have played for Brazil but didn’t

#4 Thiago Motta (Italy)

Motta played for Brazil at the junior level before playing for Italy

Thiago Motta is the third Brazil-born footballer on this list to have played for Italy at the international level.

He was born in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil but signed for Barcelona aged 17 from Clube Atlético Juventus. He progressed through the Barcelona academy and played 139 games for the senior team before leaving for Atletico Madrid in 2007. However, he left Spain for Italy after only a year with Atletico.

Motta’s Italian adventure started with Genoa but after only one season with the club, he moved to Inter Milan and won the treble in his first season with the club. Motta left Inter in 2012 and played for PSG for six more seasons before retiring at the end of the 2017/18 season.

He represented Brazil at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup but he played for the Under-23 team and was thus eligible to play for another country. In 2010, he considered playing for Italy at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was eligible to do so as his paternal grandfather was Italian.

However, Motta only made his debut for Italy in February 2011. He went on to make 30 appearances for Italy with his last appearance coming at Euro 2016.