Mano Calls Squad for South Africa and China Friendlies

August 23rd, 2012 | by: Black Matt | Comments Off

Mano named his squad for the next bout of friendlies today. Jefferson makes a deserved return, as does Diego Alves, who was phenomenal against Real Madrid last week. Ganso was dropped, perhaps a bit surprisingly, while Arouca was called up. That’s a bizarre name to see in this squad. Arouca is a bustling, energetic player, but he doesn’t have a single skill I can name that makes him Selecao quality.

The only truly interesting thing about this squad, for me, is if Mano continues with the 4-3-2-1 he’s used so much lately. While that formation does give Neymar the chance to act more centrally, I really dislike that formation for Brazil, and especially with the players Mano has called to fill it. It’s narrow, and it makes it easy for the three attacking players to become isolated. Plus, a midfield three that includes Sandro, Paulino/Romulo and Ramires will make it very difficult to advance the ball quickly through the middle of the pitch, or to even spread the ball diagonally. Why Fernandinho hasn’t been recalled, after seemingly having cemented his spot prior to the Olympics, is absolutely beyond me.

Anyway, here’s the squad:

Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Diego Alves (Valencia), Cássio (Corinthians)

Defenders: Alex Sandro (Porto), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Adriano (Barcelona), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Réver (Atlético Mineiro), Dedé (Vasco)

Midfielders: Sandro (Tottenham), Lucas Moura (São Paulo), Romulo (Spartak Moscow), Ramires (Chelsea), Arouca (Santos), Paulinho (Corinthians), Oscar (Chelsea)

Forwards: Leandro Damião (Internacional), Neymar (Santos), Jonas (Valencia), Hulk (Porto)