My, how things have changed.
Brazil’s two listless losses to end their home World Cup outside of the Top Three — including that 7-1 shellacking from Germany — have a slew of new names on manager Dunga’s first list of call-ups.
Dani Alves, Marcelo and Fred are among 10 World Cup starters who won’t be in the fold for U.S.-hosted friendlies against Ecuador and Colombia next month.
[ MORE: Back to the future, as Dunga confirmed as manager ]
Julio Cesar, Dante and Paulinho also missed the list, as did the injured Thiago Silva. In all, 13 roster players missed the cut.
So who remains? Neymar — who will face the man who ended his World Cup in Juan Zuniga — David Luiz and Oscar. Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho is among the new names on the list.
“History shows that you can’t start from scratch, it’s important to keep some of the previous structure in place,” Dunga said. “Slowly we will be giving opportunities to the younger players. It’s not because of one bad result that everything was wrong.”
Dunga said other World Cup players may be back in the future.
“It’s important that all players know that this is just the beginning of our work,” the coach said. “It doesn’t mean that the players not in this list won’t have another chance with the national team. The doors will remain open to all Brazilian players.”
Full Brazil roster
Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Rafael (Napoli)
Defenders: Maicon (AS Roma), Alex Sandro (Porto), Danilo (Porto), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), David Luiz (Paris Saint-Germain), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Gil (Corinthians), Mirando (Atletico Madrid).
Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Elias (Corinthians), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Ramires (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Oscar (Chelsea), Ricardo Goulart (Cruzeiro).
Forwards: Everton Ribeiro (Cruzeiro), Hulk (Zenit), Neymar (Barcelona), Diego Tardelli (Atletico Mineiro).
