Rio de Janeiro, Feb 9 (IANS) Brazil assistant coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has ruled out Fred’s chances of playing in Selecao’s friendly against South Africa next month.
The 30-year-old has managed just three matches for Rio de Janeiro club Fluminense since suffering a serious thigh injury last August. He will be sidelined for a further two weeks after aggravating the injury while training last week, reports Xinhua.
“He needs more time to recover from the injury, we are going to work intensely so that he does,” Parreira said Saturday.
Fred was the joint top-scorer at last year’s Confederations Cup with five goals. His prolonged absence from Brazil’s national team casts doubt over Brazil’s central striker role ahead of the World Cup in June and July.
Atletico Madrid’s prolific Brazil-born forward Diego Costa last year expressed his preference to play for his adopted country Spain while Alexandre Pato and Leandro Damiao have fallen out of favour due to poor form and injuries.
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