Barcelona forward Raphinha will return to bolster Brazil’s attack after being named in their squad ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru.
Raphinha, who has scored five goals and had three assists in seven league appearances for LaLiga leaders Barcelona, was left out of the team for the September qualifiers.
Brazil coach Dorival Junior has also strengthened an already impressive attack by adding uncapped Igor Jesus and Luiz Henrique, who both play for Botafogo.
“Igor Jesus is a player that I think you are just starting to get to know now,” Dorival said on Friday.
“I already had the opportunity to face him, years ago he attracted a lot of attention at Coritiba.”
As expected, Real Madrid’s attacking trio of Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior and Endrick are also in the 23-man list. Palmeiras forward Estevao has been dropped. Uncapped Lyon left-back Abner is a surprise inclusion as is Monaco right-back Vanderson. Brazil are fifth in their World Cup qualifying campaign having won three and lost four of their opening eight games.
They are eight points adrift of group leaders Argentina. They have lost four of their last five World Cup qualifiers and the 1-0 defeat at Paraguay on Sept. 11 was Dorival’s first loss since taking over the national team in January.
“We need to find quickly a path to return to have a confident team,” Dorival said.
“It’s not a simple and easy process. We need to improve considerably, I’m working on that. We are looking for alternatives. We haven’t found a balance to supply our attack.”
Brazil take on Chile in Santiago on Oct. 10 and host Peru in Brasilia five days later.
Brazil squad:
Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Bento (Al Nassr), Éderson (Manchester City); Danilo (Juventus), Vanderson (Cruzeiro), Abner (Lyon), Guilherme Arana (Atlético-MG), Bremer (Juventus), Éder Militão (Real Madrid), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Marquinhos (PSG); André (Fluminense), Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Gerson (Flamengo), João Gomes (Wolverhampton), Lucas Paquetá (West Ham), Rodrygo (Real Madrid); Endrick (Real Madrid), Igor Jesus (Botafogo), Luiz Henrique (Botafogo), Martinelli (Arsenal), Raphinha (Barcelona), Savinho (Manchester City) and Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid).
