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Barely a few hours from now hosts Brazil will kick-off the 2019 Copa America at the Sao Paolo against Bolivia. And as the tournament will take place on home soil, the expectations from the Canaries are naturally high.
A disappointing World Cup campaign in 2014 continues to haunt the ardent Selecao faithful even to the day, so there's a nagging feeling of unfinished business for the team.
Winning the tournament would obviously exorcise the ghosts, but would have to do so without services of the talismanic Neymar, who succumbed to an unfortunate injury in a recent friendly, cruelly ruling him out of the competition.
However, he isn't the only high-profile name who will now be watching the competition at home. Given that Brazil are packed to the rafters with talent, not everyone could make it to Tite's 23-man squad. Some of these omissions are even downright unexpected.
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So here's an XI of Brazilian players who won't feature in the 2019 Copa America for the Selecao, for various reasons: (Formation: 4-1-3-2)
Also see : Copa America Standings, Gold Cup Standings.
Goalkeeper: Neto (Valencia)
Alisson Becker and Ederson Moraes are perhaps the two best goalkeepers in the world right now, so it’s absolutely plausible for Neto to feel livid over the fact that both are Brazilians.
The Valencia shot-stopper had a fine season with Los Che, keeping 10 clean sheets in 34 appearances and averaging up to four saves a game, but regardless finds himself behind the pecking order.
Tite overlooked Neto for Corinthians netminder Cassio instead for the third-choice goalkeeper in the 23-man squad, but he’s only made a single appearance for the Canaries which was nearly two years ago.
Besides helping his side to a fourth-place finish in the league, Neto also had an important role to play in Valencia’s semi-final finish in the Europa League, registering three clean sheets in eight games and letting in 10 goals.
Such fierce is the competition in Brazil’s ranks though, that being even a third-choice goalkeeper may not yield an opportunity to start in the competition.
Right back: Danilo (Manchester City)
From being touted for big things upon signing for Real Madrid to being reduced to a fringe player at Manchester City, Danilo’s fortunes just never took off. And starting only nine games last season in the Premier League was never going to help him on the international front either, as Tite didn’t have to think twice before axing him from the 23-man squad.
Centre-back: Felipe (FC Porto)
In contrast to the earlier case, Felipe was a regular at Porto, making 31 appearances in the Portuguese League and also proving to be good enough to attract interest from Atletico Madrid, who’ve agreed a €20 million deal for him. But Tite instead went with his teammate Eder Militao, who joined rivals Real Madrid.
Centre-back: David Luiz (Chelsea)
David Luiz’s sabbatical from the international stage continues. He wasn’t a part of the World Cup last year after an underwhelming campaign with Chelsea, and despite going some distance in improving last season, he finds himself ostracised even from the Copa America squad. That makes it the third consecutive major tournament that he’s absent from since being overlooked in the 2016 Centenario. Maybe, the writing’s on the wall now.
Left-back: Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Just about a year ago, a Brazil squad participating in a major tournament without Marcelo seemed unthinkable. But the dreadful cocktail of poor form and recurring injuries have turned it into a harsh reality. Marcelo’s status as the best left-back has also taken a wrecking ball after the horrendous campaign, all culminating in a not-so-surprising omission from the Brazil squad.
Defensive midfielder: Fabinho (Liverpool)
Another questionable call by Tite is the inclusion of Casemiro over Fabinho. While the former had a torrid campaign with Los Blancos, the Liverpool star made a fine debut in the Premier League. He underpinned his side’s Champions League success and also played a vital role in the domestic title chase, after a relatively slow start. But apparently, that wasn’t enough to merit a place even in the 23-man squad, let alone start in the tournament proper.
Attacking midfielder: Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande)
When with Barcelona, Paulinho successfully proved that plying your trade in China doesn’t necessarily lead to losing your powers. The Brazilian had an overwhelmingly positive season with the Catalans last year, but instead of building on the same, made the most perplexing U-turn in recent memory by switching back to Guangzhou Evergrande 12 months later.
Now, the chickens have come home to roost: Paulinho hasn’t featured for Brazil since the turn of the year and only once in all since the conclusion of the World Cup. His international career is now in jeopardy, and a torrid season this year in the Chinese League proved to the final straw that broke his Copa chances.
Left winger: Neymar (PSG)
Neymar’s relationship with Copa America is now like the ships that pass in the night. He briefly featured in the 2015 edition’s group game but was immediately banned after a brawl following the loss to Colombia; he then snubbed the Centenario Cup in favour of the 2016 Olympics on home ground and is now sidelined for the 2019 Copa America too.
The PSG star sustained an injury to his ligament in the 2-0 friendly win over Qatar, ruling him out for four weeks - the same injury which kept him out of action for two months earlier in the season. So the Canaries are once again left to do it all without the services of their talisman.
Right winger: Douglas Costa (Juventus)
The fleet-footed Brazilian’s health record has been terrible since he joined Bayern Munich in 2015. Get this: as many as 13 bouts of injuries in the last four years alone! And much to his dismay, he succumbed to four of them in the season gone by, which he missed for a majority of it due to the same.
Even while he was on the field, Costa was visibly lacking in fitness and that hindered him from hitting the throttle. However, a summer’s break could be an opportunity in disguise for him to rest and regain full fitness ahead of the new season.
Striker: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Had the 18-year old wonderkid been plying his trade with any other side that wasn’t struggling last season, then he would’ve certainly been in Brazil’s 23-man squad.
With the Merengues enduring a catastrophic time all season, Vinicius Junior’s transfer seems very ill-timed. But he nevertheless caught attention with promising displays, making 12 assists and scoring seven times in all competitions - an encouraging debut campaign for someone of his age and in an atmosphere as hostile as at Real Madrid.
And all of this despite missing a large chunk of the home stretch of the campaign due to an unfortunate ligament rupture that kept him out of action from March to May, missing nine games in all. This is why he’s probably not in Tite’s squad right now.
Striker: Lucas Moura (Tottenham Hotspur)
Just wondering what more could have Lucas Moura done to warrant a place in the Brazil squad after such a fantastic season: 1) Stepped up to the plate in the absence of Harry Kane 2) Scored a hattrick in the semi-finals of the Champions League to lift Tottenham from the jaws of defeat and propel into the finals 3) Finished the season with 15 goals despite starting only 33 games in all competitions.
Yet, he’s forced to contend with watching his side play on home soil from the comforts of his home. Moura would be hard-pressed at such a prospect.
Despite earning only four international caps in the last four years, he did his best this season to lay a strong claim for a spot but sees Ajax’s promising youngster David Neres and the much-maligned Willian called up for the right-wing role, where he normally operates from with the Selecao.
