By: COLIN REESE
Unlike Dunga or Mano Menezes, a Brazilian coach of Felipão’s success and knowledge can be trusted to pick the very best Brazilian roster available to him.
World Soccer Source has previously proposed 23-man Seleção rosters that mostly mirror Felipão’s picks with a few exceptions that are this writer’s personal preferences, but the roster prediction below is an attempt to guess the actual Seleção for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The main position that is a question mark is the Number 9 or first striker position, as only Fred (when healthy) appears to be the clear-cut first-choice Number 9 for Felipão and Brazil.
Furthermore, it is unclear whether or not any of the following three players will make the roster: Ronaldinho, Kaká, and Robinho. Robinho was actually included on the Panini strickers for the 2014 Brazil World Cup roster.
On a final note, Lucas is another player that may or may not be included on the World Cup roster.
Most of Felipão’s player preferences are well-known by anyone who follows the Seleção, but there are still some uncertainties.
Below is World Soccer Source’s best guess at the 23-man Seleção World Cup roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Júlio CÉSAR (Toronto FC), VICTOR (Atlético Mineiro), JEFFERSON (Botafogo)
CENTER BACKS (4): THIAGO SILVA (Paris Saint-Germain), DAVID LUIZ (Chelsea), DANTE (Bayern Munich), DEDÉ (Cruzeiro)
RIGHT BACKS (2): DANIEL ALVES (Barcelona), MAICON (Roma)
LEFT BACKS (2): MARCELO (Real Madrid), ADRIANO (Barcelona)
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS (2): LUIZ GUSTAVO (Wolfsburg), FERNANDINHO (Manchester City)
CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS (2): PAULINHO (Tottenham), RAMIRES (Chelsea)
ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS (5): NEYMAR (Barcelona), OSCAR (Chelsea), BERNARD (Shakhtar Donetsk), WILLIAN (Chelsea), ROBINHO (Milan)/LUCAS (Paris Saint-Germain)
FORWARDS (3): FRED (Fluminense), HULK (Zenit St. Petersburg), JÔ (Atlético Mineiro)
Below are several dark horse selections:
RONALDINHO (Atlético Mineiro)
KAKÁ (Milan)
PATO (São Paulo)
MAXWELL (Paris Saint-Germain)
LEANDRO DAMIÃO (Santos)