Doríval Junior began the renewal of the Brazilian national team with everything: six new faces for the European tour

The new technical director of the national team Brazil, Doríval Juniorhas a big job ahead of him: awakening the giant who has begun his bumpy path to the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States. green yellow They are sixth in the standings led by Argentina and, despite being in the direct qualification zone, will have to make a breakthrough in 2024.

That’s why it wasn’t surprising Doríval Juniorwho took over the leadership of the team after the unhappy period of Fernando Diniz and the rejection of Italian Carlo Ancelottiwho preferred to extend his stay at Real Madrid, will begin a renewal process in the first call from his management: There are six debutants among the 26 players nominated for the tour to Europe at the end of March they will play against England in London and Spain in Madrid.

The new ones are the archer Raffaello (San Paolo), the defenders Luca Beraldo (PSG) e Murillo (Palmeiras), the midfielders Pablo Maia (Sao Paulo) e Joao Gomes (Wolverhampton) and the striker Savinho (Girona).

The return of the midfielder also stands out in the list Lucas Paquetá (West Ham), who was not included in the latest calls due to an alleged connection with a betting network.

For his part, the great Brazilian star, Neymar, is out because he is recovering from the knee injury suffered in October with the Brazilian team in the match against Uruguay. Another starter in the Brazil squad, the Liverpool goalkeeper AlissonHe is also absent due to injury.

“I want to make it clear that no reformulation can be done in a radical way. It requires continuous and planned change,” explained the current DT.

Two important pieces of information to understand that this is the beginning of a renewal and that Doríval wants to quickly leave its mark on the Canarinha. On the one hand, of the 23 outfield players, ten are under 25 years old and seven are between 25 and 26 years old. Only three (Casemiro, Wendell and Danilo) reached 30 years old. six footballers who know his last two teams very well: they are Ayrton Lucas, Joao Gomes and Andreas Pereira, who he coached at Flamengo, and Rafael, Beraldo and Pablo Maia, with whom he worked at Sao Paulo.

“We try to make a selection that once again represents us in a serious, concentrated, targeted way and that takes into account what it means to wear a shirt like ours,” he said.

Approved by his last coaching job, he was champion of the Copa Libertadores and the Cup of Brazil in 2022 with Flamengo and the Cup of Brazil 2023 with Sao Paulo, Dorival, 61, was announced on January 10 as coach. The first big test will be the Copa América in the United States, which will be played between June and July 2024.

Complete list of the 26 players called up to the Brazilian national team

• Archers: Rafael Pires (São Paulo), Ederson (Manchester City) and Bento (Athletico Paranaense).

• Defenders: Danilo (Juventus), Yan Couto (Girona), Ayrton Lucas (Flamengo), Wendell (Porto), Beraldo (PSG), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Marquinhos (PSG) and Murilo (Palmeiras).

• Midfielders: André (Fluminense), Andreas Pereira (Fulham), Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle), Casemiro (Manchester United), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), João Gomes (Wolverhampton), Lucas Paquetá (West Ham) and Pablo Maia (São Paulo).

• Fronts: Endrick (Palmeiras), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Savinho (Girona) and Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid).