well if we’re talking about responsibilities for attacking midfielder i think Diego is way more dangerous than Julio Baptista especially now Baptista is not even part of the starting lineup and AS Roma sucks big time, why would Dunga call Ronaldinho? he expect his players to run and R10 is not doing this at all,let’s face it people there’s no R10 anymore, if Kaka get injured the selecao is in big trouble,Diego is our best option now and Dunga should have not called Julio Baptista over him,how can some of you say Dunga should have called Pato(striker) over Josue(defensive midfielder)? they don’t even play the same position…Lucas,Ramires,Josue,Julio Baptista,Doni none of them deserve to be part of the selecao why is Felipe(Deportivo) is out though? Michel Bastos should’ve been in for Ramires and Felipe should’ve kept his spotas the back up left back at least

Posted from  United States

dunga call pato u idiot!! 4 goals in 4 games including 2 against madrid! what more does he need to do for u

Posted from  United States

Kaka has played absolutely terrible for Real. No excuses made. Everybody was hoping for Ronaldo to flop but, he has been amazing for them.

Pachet Ramires has been amazing for Benfica and does deserve to be in it. Lucas was amazing against Manchester United last weekend. Destroyed SCholes and Giggs in that game single handedly.

well,Ramires is playing in Portugal. Portugal is not one of the big european leagues,right? so Ramires playing doing nice stuff in Portugal doesn’t really mean much he’s not playing against the best,don’t tell me we don’t have no one better than Ramires who we can call upon to play in his position in the selecao? Lucas plays a couple good games so what,that makes him a genius? i mean when Hernanes was really hot a couple months ago he did stuff that i have never seen Ramires doing maybe it’s just me. Anderson and Denilson deserve to be ahead of Lucas in the picking order in the national team but hey! Dunga is the guy who think Julio Baptista can destroy a team better than Diego and Diego is among the 23 players for the FIFA players of the year 2009……

Posted from  United States

For those of you that like Ramires, it really puzzles me. What has Ramires done in the national colors to earn a spot in the team? He has been given countless opportunities to showcase his talent, but he has been simply atrocious. I will be the first to admit that there are some players I was wrong about, most notably Nilmar whom I criticized some of you for calling for his inclusion but I have been proven wrong. But Ramires has been given enough opportunity and he has been found wanting. What even vexes me the most is that there are more capable players whom Dunga was ignoring to have him on the team (Diego, Bastos etc). The same applies to Josue, and Lucas. Why have them on the team, when we have not yet tried players like Fernando of bordeaux, Hernanes and Thiaggo Motta? I am not saying these players should be included automatically, but they should at least be given a chance, and I sincerely believe that they will prove to be more capable than Josue or Lucas. One player whom I believe will be an an incredible asset to the sellecao (some of you may laugh but I am serious) is ZE ROBERTO. He did retire from the national team but in recent times has expressed interest in rejoining the team. If you remember from the last world cup, he was the most impressive of the entire lot. He was the the only Brazilian to make it in the FIFA first eleven in the World Cup. He was impressive for Munich last season and is still in phenomenal shape this season for Hamburg. I must confess, I will prefer him in the defensive midfield position to Gilbert Silva (who has also been decent but not impressive). Just imagining his partnership with Felipe Melo will be an absolute delight. In response to some of you calling for the non inclusion of Kaka in the team, I disagree. Real Madrid in recent times have been an albatross in the careers of many players. Cannavaro, Zambrottta, sneider, Van der Vart, Walter Samuel(to name a few) have all had their soccer careers come to a halt while playing for Madrid. Even the Great Zinedine Zidane, two seasons prior to the 2006 world cup was unimpressive for Madrid.

By the way, for most of you who have have read some of my postings, I tend to prefer older players in defensive positions than younger ones since history has shown that older players in general make better defensive players hence my calling for the inclusion of Ze Roberto. The reverse tends to be the case for offensive positons where youth and speed prevail.

Denilson is injured. And without a doubt Lucas has played alot better then Anderson this season.

Obv Diego should be called up and Ze Reberto is retired. France called Zidane as they were desperate, Brazil is not.

Ramires is only 22 and getting better each performance. He has been more consitant then Robinhio which, I see that you have not criticised. Robinhio has one good game like every 10 games for Brazil =/ Ramires has potential and can slot in the team as a CM or a DM.

This still doesn’t change the fact that Kaka has been terrible for Real tho

You are right, Robinho hasn’t been impressive lately, but to compare Ramires to Robinho is unfair. Robinho’s performance during the last COPA American championship was extremely impressive where he literally carried the whole Team. And we all know that Ramires is not capable of doing that. I think the key to selection may lie in balancing an individual’s current performance to what you know he may be capable of doing. Kaka and Robinho may be unimpressive for their teams currently but we all know that they can be magnificent when they are in form. This to me may explain Dunga’s continued selection of Adriano whom we know can be devastating on a given day (his performances in the COPA american championship). Ramires on the other hand hasn’t shown any great potential nor has he been great in ANY game. When I say any game , I mean a single game (decent Yes, Great No!!). I really am trying to be fair here since I myself will like to have the best players selected. Name me a game that Ramires played for the seleccao that made you think that he was worthy of the national team. Like I have repeatedly said, in a different team, we may select Ramires, but in the seleccao, where there is such an abundance of great players, he should not be picked. Not picking Ze Roberto because we are not “desperate” is a flawed logic. We pick players to make a team better if need be, and he may make the team better, and even if he is picked as a sub and we all know that the Brazilian substitute bench may be their Achilles heel.

@Joel
So, you think Kaka shouldn’t be called up without the slightest consideration for the contributions he brings for the national team? That’s laughable. He played better than Messi in Argentina in September!

Also, have you seen the Real Madrid-Tenerife match? I think it pretty much summarizes how Madrid plays with and without him.
I don’t think that Kaka has been up to his own standards either, but he’s still consistently one of the best players on pitch. Treating him like a second rate player is silly. (Also did you catch the double-nutmeg assist he managed in the Deportivo La Coruna a couple months back? he should get called up for that alone.)

Did I say once he should not be called up? No. Your just assuming things. I was just saying he has been playing terrible for Real while Ramires has been playing great for Benfica. I was not comparing both players as Ramires is nowhere near Kaka.

I’m surprised much has not been said about Ronaldinho’s performance lately. He’s been playing really well for AC Millan in the last three or four matches. His two assists in AC Milan’s 2-0 win against Parma on 10/31/09 were brilliant (both goals were scored by Borriello). Let’s hope that Dunga pays attention to a star like Ronaldinho who has done a lot for Brazil. There’s no point of continuing to humiliate such an excellent player — even when he is not in form.

Posted from  United States

I’m now happy everyone can see how over-rated Mr. KAKA really is, nothing but a light weight and as far as I am concern, he should never be in a Brazil first eleven. I still rate Chris(Lyon), Alex(Chelsea), Naldo, Thiago Silva, Luisao as the best central defenders at Dunga’s disposal. I am finally happy for Incredible Hulk, but he will need Diego, Ronaldinho, Filepe Mello and D.Alves to be effective. and then Robinho and Fabiano. Cesar, Helton as keepers. Other players to call are Marcello, Maicon. No place for G.Silva, Elano, Ramirez, Baptista, Joscue

Posted from  Jamaica

Starting 11, for my money, should be:

Goal: Julio Cesar

Central defenders: Juan and Lucio, if they’re not hurt, but Luisao should see a LOT of time
RB: Maicon
LB: Never really had a strong vibe for anyone here

Midfielders: Kaka, Felipe Melo, Elano, Gilberto Silva (who gets a lot of criticism but to me he’s one of the most dependable)

Forwards: Luis Fabiano (obviously, he’s been the most consistently impressive member of the team) and Robinho, simply because what he’s shown he’s CAPABLE of (2007 Copa America), however if he’s simply not in good form, I’ve no problem replacing him with Nilmar, or even Pato, though in my opinion Pato is better to be used as a spark to generate the offense than as someone to depend on every game.

BTW, I really enjoy reading this blog so I can see all of the (undoubtedly wiser) opinions of other Brazil fans. Where I live, there is no one else to talk to about this stuff. I’ve been a fan of the selecao since ‘94 (I’m American, but my mother is from Ribeirão Preto) and have watched every World Cup since then, but it wasn’t till just recently that I’ve really been following the team between World Cups, and seeing how the selection process unfolds. (Tournaments like the Confederations Cup, the Copa America, and even just the qualies were never available for me to watch before.)

whoever thinks kaka is overated is very uneducated about soccer. just watch a player like him for more then 15 minutes during a game and you will see his class. outplayed messi in argentina..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGNymbZ4XQE….pure class

Posted from  United States

Well friends watch out for Gaucho, it seems he is coming slowly back to form
and i hope that he will be able to get back to the Brazil side to play with Kaka. It would be unwise to write off a player of the class of Gaucho after
Zidane there has been few bettre ball players than Gaucho.

I agree with many here that Kaka is class quality. He is still setlling down at his new club Madrid and his class will stand acknowledged in 2010 SA.

Pato needs to be groomed and i am quite certain and confident of Leonardos ability to handle Patos brilliance. But our best bet for striker is still
Luis Fabiano. Dunga was not vey good at handling Pato.

Waiting for the UEFA CL ACM-Madrid match tonight i want Gaucho and Pato to really fire and also Kaka.

Cheers

Gautam.

Posted from  India

We have way much more players to have the likes of Ramires,Lucas in the selecao unless you are a new fan of the selecao or you haven’t been watching the brazilian football i know some players who play in Brazil who are way better than Ramires,Lucas,Josue…is Robinho playing the same position as Ramires? why some people even try to compare those 2 players for? they’re not competing against each other for the same spot in the selecao so what’s the point?

Posted from  United States

ramires isnt that bad, need to cut him some slack, and lucas has actually been performing well for liverpool lately, played great for them against manchester united. doesnt justify him being ahead of hernanes, but still hes been playing well, josue however is awful. please call pato

Posted from  United States

Pato has been on absolute fire lately and he deserves to go be on this team. i hope that useless trick pony Robinho who keeps cying to move to Barcelona without even proving his worth in Manchester reaggravates his injury. and also in case anyone on this blog hasnt noticed the Gaucho is back!

You guys need to read full passages of text before writing a response. I never said once Kaka was underrated or compared him to Ramires or Lucas. I JUST SAID HE IS PLAYING BAD AT REAL. God sake read =/

which he is Joel, but to be fair to him the Real squad does not really know how to play alongsides him nor does the coach know where to correctly position him on the pitch. he should’ve followed Ancelotti out to Chelsea!

Ok guys!! Just a recap of all comments. Pato and Ronaldihno should be there over Robinho or Ramires. Diego should be there over Julio Baptista. Thiago Silva should be there over Juan. Then who should be there over Lucas and Josue??

Posted from  Malaysia

The motivation of going to the WC has made him concentrate on football again. Last few games he has been amazing.

Yes Gaucho is slowly creeping back towards his old form although he has a
lot to make up. His recent form has been good but he is yet to find his
original pace and attacking rhythm but his exquisite trickery is coming back and he is making extremely incisive customary long range defence splitting passes. I am quite certain that if he trains properly and sticks to discip;ine and curbs his nightlife he will be back and strong. This shows how you can have the worlds greatest talent but you are nothing without practize training and discipline.

Pato is also performing very well and his guile, pace and positioning has been superb recently. He is turning out to be an exceptionla striker and in
a 4-3-3 formation I would have Fabiano and Pato as the two top strikers
Gaucho will be back as Dunga has said that its just a matter of time. I would rather prefer a 4-4-2 formation with Gaucho and Kaka with Elano and
1 more defensive screen. Defence is Lucio/Juan/Luisao/Alex
Full backs Maicon/Alves

Kaka was also class in the ACM-MAD match although tightly marked by Ambrosini.

Posted from  India

He should include Alex de Souza from Fenerbahce. Legendary players, in a great form at the moment. Nothing less then Ronaldinho, much better character. Midfields maestro.

Posted from  Netherlands