RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil coach Tite on Monday named his 26-man World Cup squad for Qatar, including 39-year-old defender Daniel Alves while leaving out Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino as the five-times champions prepare for the tournament starting on Nov 20.

Aston Villa attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho is one veteran who didn’t make the list after sustaining a thigh injury in training over the weekend that will sideline him for several weeks.

Tite included nine forwards in his squad, highlighting the wealth of attacking options at his disposal meaning 31-year-old Firmino, who has not featured for his country since the Copa America final in July 2021, missed the cut.

The 30-year-old Neymar spearheads Brazil’s attack while the squad also features a group of young forwards including Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo.

Arsenal duo Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli were included in a list dominated by 12 players from the English Premier League.

Jesus’ place was in question following a nine-game goalless run for Arsenal, while club colleague Martinelli has been rewarded for his fine form with the Gunners having notched five goals and two assists already this season.

Tite read out his selection at the Brazilian soccer confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, narrowing down his list from a group of 55 players he and his staff had been watching since 2018.

The Brazil boss will be taking only four centre-backs, with Juventus’ Bremer behind Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and Eder Militao, while leaving Roger Ibanez (AS Roma) and Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal) out.

Alves, the former Barcelona right-back, was also included in the list, which features eight defenders and six midfielders.

Liverpool’s Alisson and Manchester City’s Ederson will battle it out to be number one.

The Brazilian FA also announced that former PSG manager Ricardo Gomes will join Tite’s staff as an assistant.

The squad and Tite will gather on Nov 14 at Juventus’ training facilities in Turin, where Brazil will hold a five-day training camp before flying to Doha on Nov 19.

Brazil will open their World Cup campaign against Serbia on Nov. 24 and also face Switzerland and Cameroon in Group ‘G’. Serbia and Switzerland were also in Brazil’s group four years ago in Russia, when the Brazilians lost to Belgium in the quarter-finals.

The 61-year-old Tite has already announced he will step down after the tournament after six years in charge.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras); Defenders: Bremer (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid) Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), Thiago Silva (Chelsea), Danilo (Juventus), Daniel Alves (Pumas), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Alex Telles (Sevilla); Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Casemiro (Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchaester United), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United); Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Neymar Jr (Paris St Germain), Pedro (Flamengo), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid).

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2022