Brazil will travel to Montevideo, Uruguay for a clash between the top two sides in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying without David Luiz, the Chelsea center half and captain of Brazil’s 7-1 capitulation to Germany once again omitted from Tite’s latest squad announcement.
Luiz has been in great form for club this season, helping Chelsea to the top of the Premier League table with a defense that’s allowed only 19 goals in 26 matches. However, Luiz hasn’t appeared for Brazil since last March, and Tite has ignored him since being placed in charge of the Seleção last June.
Brazil will also be without Gabriel Jesus after the attacker broke his metatarsal while playing for Manchester City. Another player that’ll be disappointed to miss out is Monaco’s versatile Fabinho.
Brazil are on the cusp of qualification with a four-point lead over Uruguay in second place. The second match will see Brazil host Paraguay at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo. Paraguay will be desperate for a result as they’re four points behind Argentina in the fifth and final qualifying spot.
Here’s the full squad for Brazil’s matches against Uruguay (March 23) and Paraguay (March 28):
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Weverton (Atletico Paranaense), Ederson (Benfica)
Defenders: Gil (Shandong Luneng), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (PSG), Miranda (Inter Milan), Dani Alves (Juventus), Fagner (Corinthians), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande), Giuliano (Zenit), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Diego (Flamengo), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea)
Forwards: Neymar (Barcelona), Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Diego Souza (Sport Recife)