Football
ESPN staff 8y

Neymar plus 6 Olympic champions in Brazil World Cup qualifying squad

Brazil Olympic team stars Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Gabigol and four others were included on Monday as the Selecao named their 23-man squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Colombia.

Weverton, Renato Augusto, Rodrigo Caio and Marquinhos, all of whom helped lead Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal, were also named in the team. Brazil beat Germany on penalty kicks, with Neymar sealing the gold medal.

Coach Tite left out Luiz Gustavo, Thiago Silva, Douglas Costa, Ricardo Oliveira, Alexandre Pato and Hulk in favor of Fagner, Giuliano and Paulinho.

Brazil travel to Quito to face Ecuador on Sept. 1 and then host Colombia five days later in Manaus. Brazil are currently sitting sixth in the CONMEBOL qualifying table with nine points.

"Some of the players in Europe, because they are just now returning to play, were hurt by the timing of this recall, some are out of the playing rhythm, others are injured," Tite said during a news conference. 

"This call-up is for the next two matches only. I don't want to be an optimist and responsible nor do I want to be pessimistic and negative. I just want to be realistic. We are in a key moment for World Cup qualifying and we are looking to grow.

"From this point on, we are starting a new stage. This call-up is for these two matches and we were looking for each player who was at his best moment.

"There are players who have been left out for injuries, but I can't say which ones," he said.

Finally, Tite said he was in no hurry to name a team captain and didn't rule out Neymar's return. 

"People share in the joy, but they also must share in the responsibilities as well," said of his players. "I am not going to give a definitive answer as to who will be captain. My inclination is that it could be Miranda or Daniel Alves, or even Neymar, as he was before."

Brazil squad:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Weverton (Atletico Paranaense)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Juventus), Fagner (Corinthians), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Gil (Shandong Luneng), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Miranda (Inter Milan), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo).

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Giuliano (Zenit), Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande), Rafael Carioca (Atletico Mineiro), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Lucas Lima (Santos), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Willian (Chelsea).

Forwards: Gabriel (Santos), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras), Neymar (Barcelona),Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk)

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