World Cup winners Ronaldinho and Kaka were both left out of the Brazil’s Confederations Cup squad on Tuesday as manager Luiz Felipe Scolari opted for youth instead of experience.
Manchester United fullback Rafael and Chelsea midfielder Ramires, who has been a regular for his country over the past years, were also excluded, as was former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato.
Brazil will use the same squad for the friendlies against England in Rio de Janeiro on June 2 and France in Belo Horizonte one week later.
Photo: AFP
Brazil had been expected to take at least either Kaka or Ronaldinho, who were in Scolari’s 2002 World Cup winning squad, to the eight-team competition that they host next month.
Ronaldinho, 33, had been a favorite thanks to some inspirational performances for his team, Club Atletico Mineiro, but they were clearly insufficient to impress the man known as Big Phil.
“We could lose out in terms of experience but we will make up for that with the enthusiasm which the young players bring,” Scolari told a news conference of about 300 reporters at a Rio de Janeiro hotel. “If a player is not in the squad, it means I have doubts about him. If he is in the squad, it means I don’t have any doubts.”
Scolari took over the squad in November last year after Mano Menezes was surprisingly sacked and has managed only one win, away to Bolivia, in his five friendlies in charge. Ronaldinho played in three of those games.
“When I chose the squad, I analyze what I can win and what I can lose with each player and I make my choices,” Scolari said. “When it comes to discipline, I base my choices on the way the player has behaved with the Brazil team and what has happened with us in the five friendlies.”
Ronaldinho was taken off at halftime in the friendly against England in February after an apathetic performance in which he missed a penalty. He also played in the 4-0 win in Bolivia and 2-2 draw at home to Chile, where Brazil were jeered off the field.
Real Madrid’s Kaka produced low-key performances against Italy and Russia.
Scolari said he did not fear a backlash from Brazilian fans for omitting Ronaldinho, who remains hugely popular.
“If we don’t do well, we’ll be under the cosh whoever I picked,” he said.
Scolari has made it clear that most of the players at the Confederations Cup will form the basis of his World Cup squad next year.
The biggest surprise was the inclusion of 20-year-old Atletico Mineiro striker Bernard, who has only one cap.
Brazil face Japan, Italy and Mexico in their group.
Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec has become a social media sensation for his nonchalance at the shooting range at the Paris Olympics. A former officer of the Turkish Gendarmerie, Dikec combined with Sevval Ilayda Tarhan to win the silver in the mixed team 10m air pistol event on Tuesday. However, it was the 51-year-old’s casual attire as he fired with his other hand in pocket at the Chateauroux Shooting Center that prompted the myriad of memes. “Be cool like Yusuf Dikec,” the French embassy in Turkey wrote in a post on X. While most pistol shooters wear visors, chunky ear-defenders and shooting lenses with a
China’s 24-year-old table tennis player Wang Chuqin was overjoyed on Tuesday after securing his first Olympic gold medal alongside teammate Sun Yingsha. His elation soon turned to disbelief, anger and frustration when he discovered that his new paddle — crucial for his singles and team events — had been damaged by excited photographers rushing to capture the moment. Visibly upset, Wang tried to ask for an explanation. His coach tried to hug him in an effort to console him and ask him to stay calm. Wang soon regained his composure despite the setback. “At that moment, I lost control of my emotions a little.
‘THANK YOU’: Following her loss to Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Wednesday, Tai said that she did not want everyone to know she was playing with an injury Tai Tzu-ying yesterday thanked her fans and her doctor after exiting at the Paris Olympics a day earlier, beaten 21-19, 21-15 by Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and failing to reach the round-of-16 of the women’s singles badminton. Tokyo silver medalist Tai, who played with both knees in braces in Paris, had previously opened up about an issue with her left knee and earlier this year withdrew from the Singapore Open. “Before I came here I knew I would find it hard to play the game because of my injury,” Tai, 30, who plans to retire at the end of this year, said through
While the International Olympic Committee does not give prize money to winners at the Paris Games, many nations and territories offer incentives to their athletes to come home with gold, silver or bronze. Many are financial, but the rewards can be more eclectic — anything from exemption from compulsory military service to cars, cows, apartments and even free food deliveries. In South Korea, an Olympic medal, of any color, grants athletes exemption from 18 months of compulsory military service, which all able-bodied males must undertake by the age of 28. A gold at the Asian Games does the same, which star soccer player