Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scholari has declared his 23 man squad who will take the field in their home soil and fight for the World Cup in June. With the World Cup in Brazil imminent in just over a month’s time, the Selecao have been tipped as one of the favourites for the coveted trophy.
The home side have been placed in an easy group consisting Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon but face a tricky test in the first knockout rounds with either of Spain or Netherlands in line to be matched up against them.
Brazil have won the tournament an unprecedented five times as Scholari is now plotting for a record sixth haul of the Jules Rimet trophy. Notable names Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho failed to make the cut while there has been a couple of relative surprises. Paris St Germain’s Maxwell was inexplicably preferred over Atletico Madrid’s Filipe Luis while the experienced Maicon selected over the brilliant Miranda who too plies his trade at Atletico.
Bayern’s right back Rafinha was also omitted however the biggest surprise came when Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool, who despite having a thunderous season for Liverpool was omitted alongside team mate Lucas Leiva. Pacy winger Lucas Moura of PSG was also omitted while Napoli’s Henrique ame the cut alongside Inter Milan’s Hernanes and Manchester City’s Fernandinho.
Barcelona star Neymar however is expected to spearhead the home side’s challenge with Scholari looking to build the team’s chances alongside the start striker.
Luiz Felipe Scolari has announced Brazil’s (@CBF_Futebol) #WorldCup squad w/ a few surprises – http://t.co/HVo2G4lQn0 pic.twitter.com/dmeMJCDtHC
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) May 7, 2014
| Position | Player | Club |
| GK | Julio Cesar | Toronto FC (On Loan from QPR) |
| GK | Jefferson | Botafogo |
| GK | Victor | Atlético Mineiro |
| DEF | Dante | Bayern Munich |
| DEF | David Luiz | Chelsea |
| DEF | Thiago Silva | Paris St. Germain |
| DEF | Henrique | Napoli |
| DEF | Dani Alves | Barcelona |
| DEF | Maicon | Roma |
| DEF | Marcelo | Real Madrid |
| DEF | Maxwell | Paris St. Germain |
| MID | Fernandinho | Manchester City |
| MID | Hernanes | Inter Milan |
| MID | Luiz Gustavo | VfL Wolfsburg |
| MID | Oscar | Chelsea |
| MID | Paulinho | Tottenham Hotspur |
| MID | Ramires | Chelsea |
| MID | Willian | Chelsea |
| MID | Bernard | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| FW | Fred | Fluminense |
| FW | Hulk | Zenit St. Petersburg |
| FW | Jo | Atlético Mineiro |
| FW | Neymar | Barcelona |
Players Table Courtsey: Bleacher Report