The Grand Hamad Stadium has played host to various sports such as table tennis, rugby sevens and fencing. Located in Doha, it is the home of Al-Arabi SC and will also be the HQ of the Brazilian team during the World Cup in Qatar.
It is there that Tite begins to define, starting this Sunday (20), the team that will send to the field in Brazil’s debut in the World Cup, Thursday (24), against Serbia, in Lusail.
Four days before the confrontation, the coach insists that he still doesn’t have the lineup in his head. Before arriving in Qatar, the delegation had a week of training in Turin, Italy, where it arrived on Saturday (19). During that time, the technician opted for specific jobs.
“We worked on important aspects. We simulated a workload that will be important, just as if it were in the game. Now it’s the parts of the game, team definition, strategy, dead ball. The team will be decided here. Everyone’s preparation and the definition of the team will be here”, he commented upon his arrival in Doha.
One thing, however, is certain: most of the players expected to represent the country in the first match come from English football. For the third World Cup in a row, players who play in England are the majority in the canary delegation, something that is also reflected in the first team. Alisson, Thiago Silva, Casemiro and Richarlison are practically assured players. Fred, Bruno Guimarães and Paquetá are currently fighting for two places in the midfield. They all play in the English league.
“It helps a lot for an athlete to be in the football elite. This year, six English clubs had Brazilian players as their main signing for the season”, says Paulo Vinícius Coelho, columnist for Sheet, which is in Qatar. “It shows that the world’s top league is looking at Brazilian players.”
Of the 26 squad, 12 are from Premier League clubs. Casemiro, Fred and Antony from Manchester United. Alisson and Fabinho, from Liverpool. Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli. Chelsea’s Thiago Silva. Ederson from Manchester City. Richarlison from Tottenham. Lucas Paqueta of West Ham. And Bruno Guimarães, from Newcastle. One more name could have been included on this list, that of Philippe Coutinho, from Aston Villa. He just didn’t go to the Cup because of a muscle injury.
The Premier League thus doubles the number of representatives in the Brazilian team compared to the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, when it had six athletes in each edition. It is worth remembering, however, that this time the number of players called up for the tournament is higher, 26, instead of 23.
Until the 1998 World Cup, a player who played in England had never been called up. In 2002, 2006 and 2010, the number was only one in each edition. The current dominance of English football is also seen in other teams. In all, the World Cup will bring together 158 athletes who work in England. Practically, 1 in every 5 summoned.
See an x-ray of the Brazilian team in the search for the sixth
The club with the most squads, however, is not an English one. This is Bayern Munich. The current Bundesliga champions have loaned 17 players across eight teams. Seven of them are from Germany itself. In addition to the predominance of English football, the formation of the Brazilian team also comes from Europe. Of the 26 summoned, only four athletes do not play there. Goalkeeper Weverton, from Palmeiras, Pedro and Éverton Ribeiro, from Flamengo, as well as Daniel Alves, who plays in Mexican football.
This feature has an advantage. Despite the fact that the Brazilian team has only had one game against a European team – a friendly against the Czech Republic – since the defeat to Belgium, in the 2018 World Cup, the players selected by Tite are more than used to facing the Europeans .
Even those who don’t play in the continent’s top league, like Neymar, who plays in French football for PSG, are more than used to dueling against the continent’s biggest players in the Champions League.
This helps to explain the fact that Brazil arrives in Qatar with one of the main favorites to take the title.
As a seasoned news journalist, I bring a wealth of experience to the field. I’ve worked with world-renowned news organizations, honing my skills as a writer and reporter. Currently, I write for the sports section at News Bulletin 247, where I bring a unique perspective to every story.
_114708.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
