Football
ESPN staff 8y

Thiago Silva, Oscar called up for Brazil's upcoming qualifiers

Thiago Silva and Oscar have been included in Tite's 24-man squad list for Brazil's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.

The PSG defender's inclusion marks the first time he's been called to the national team since his participation in Brazil's disastrous Copa America campaign in 2015.

Former Brazil manager Dunga refused to recall the 31-year-old after the centre-back's blatant handball helped send the Selecao to a crushing defeat to Paraguay at the quarterfinal stage.

Meanwhile, Chelsea midfielder Oscar makes his debut appearance for Tite, and returns to the national setup for the first time since the March qualifiers against Uruguay and Paraguay.

Brazil made a smashing start to Tite's tenure in the previous round of qualifiers earlier this month, earning an historic 3-0 victory in Ecuador before edging red-hot Colombia on home soil. The two wins jumped Brazil, who once seemed in danger of missing out on World Cup 2018, from sixth place to second in the CONMEBOL table.

And Tite maintained a majority of the squad from those matches, with only a few changes -- most notably leaving off Gabriel "Gabigol" Barbosa.

Aside from Silva and Oscar, the former Corinthians coach brought in Flamengo goalkeeper Alex Muralha, Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho, Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa, and Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino.

Brazil will face Bolivia on Oct. 6 in Natal, Brazil, and will face Venezuela in Merida five days later.

Here is the full squad list:

Goalkeepers: Alex Muralha (Flamengo), Alisson (Roma), Weverton (Atletico Paranaense)

Full-backs: Daniel Alves (Juventus), Fagner (Corinthians), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid)

Centre-backs: Gil (Shandong Luneng), Marquinhos (PSG), Miranda (Inter Milan), Thiago Silva (PSG)

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Giuliano (Zenit), Lucas Lima (Santos), Oscar (Chelsea), Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Willian (Chelsea)

Forwards: Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras), Neymar (Barcelona), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

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