Under pressure after a series of bad results, Brazil’s national team is likely to have a Real Madrid trio up front for two upcoming World Cup qualifying matches in October.
Coach Dorival Júnior included seven forwards in his squad announced Friday, with Madrid’s Vinicius Júnior, Rodrygo and Endrick all expected to start in attack away against Chile on October 10 and at home against Peru five days later.
Veteran forward Neymar, who was initially expected to return in October from the ACL injury he sustained last year, remains out of Brazil’s squad.
“We’ll wait, we’ll be patient, it doesn’t matter if he can’t come back in October, November or even February. He needs to be confident, he needs to play and above all he needs to be completely healed from this injury,” Dorival told a news conference.
“We are starting to realise how important he is. If he returns in the coming years, we will have one of the greatest players in world football at a remarkable moment in his career and in our national team,” he added.
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Brazil is only in fifth place in South American qualifying after eight games. Chile and Peru are the bottom two teams in the 10-team round-robin competition.
Earlier this month, Brazil had a lackluster performance in a 1-0 victory against Ecuador and lost 1-0 at Paraguay.
Dorival Júnior, who took over as Brazil coach at the start of the year, has been under pressure since his team was knocked out by Uruguay in the Copa America quarterfinals in July.
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