Copa America 2024: Selecao is not stable

Coach Dorival Junior is said to have too little time to find the most satisfactory squad, in the context that Selecao is still missing a series of stars. Mr. Dorival Junior officially led the Brazilian team since the beginning of this year, after the "yellow-green" team was unstable with temporary coaches for a whole year. However, in reality, the time this 62-year-old coach worked with the team was not much, just over 2 weeks during the competition in March and recently when preparing for Copa America. The first concern is the defense. Only meeting Mexico and the US (friendly) with weak attacks, but Selecao conceded 3 goals. A total of 6 goals if counting the draw with Spain (3-3) in March. They only kept a clean sheet in 1 match under coach Dorival Junior against England (1-0) also in March.

At this year's Copa America, the Brazilian team only has one reliable goalkeeper, Alisson, after Ederson was injured. The central defenders currently only have Marquinhos as a guaranteed player, while Eder Militao and Gabriel Magalhaes are still affected by injuries. Another solution is that coach Dorival Junior can choose central defender Lucas Beraldo to pair with Marquinhos, both of whom play for PSG. On the two wings, defenders Wendell and captain Danilo are guaranteed players. In midfield, coach Dorival Junior's concern is that he has not found anyone suitable to play alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta. In particular, Paqueta can be expelled from the Copa America at any time if during the match he receives a penalty from the English Football Association (FA) due to betting-related allegations. It is possible that midfielder Joao Gomes (Wolverhampton, England) will be selected, along with Douglas Luiz and Ederson. Up front, Vinicius, Rodrygo and Raphinha have already found their places, while Endrick and Martinelli will wait for their chance to play from the bench. Coach Dorival Junior admitted: "The Brazilian team is not completely stable. We have revealed some weaknesses that need to be addressed, but we can only be flexible in the tournament because the time is too short to find solutions."

The Brazilian team will play the opening match of Copa America 2024 against Costa Rica at 8:00 on June 25 in Group D (live on VTC1), before that is the Colombia - Paraguay match in the same group at 5:00 (live on VTC3).