Not knowing if he will be able to rely on 'English', Tite must make a puffy summon

Two weeks after the last pledge to the Brazilian national team, coach Tite announced, Friday, that he had been called up for the matches against Venezuela, Colombia and Uruguay for the triple round of World Cup qualifiers. Still not knowing if he will be able to count on players who play in English football, the coach must take precautions and reveal at 11 am a rather inflated roster. In all, 40 players will be called up to avoid any misappropriation of athletes playing in the English Championship.

No wonder the sheer number of athletes that Tite put together. A few days before the start of the last date for FIFA, the coach was forced to call up nine more players after English teams refused to part with their players due to the row in South American countries. This is because the UK has included Brazil in the “red list”, which consists of being a country with a high level of pollution by the coronavirus. Thus, people arriving from the South American country on British soil need to be quarantined for ten days. With this, players will have to stay away from training when they return to England and will embezzle teams for back-to-back matches. In turn, midfielder Claudinho and striker Malcom, both from Zenit St Petersburg, Russia, received a statement from the club demanding an immediate return, also for health reasons.

Despite the guard, there is an expectation that the selection will contain all the names summoned by Tite. This Wednesday, 22, FIFA President Gianni Infantino personally met with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, to discuss the matter in person. The organization is trying to strike an agreement with the British government to make an exception for athletes returning from South America, without the need for a mandatory ten-day quarantine. One idea on the table is to isolate players in bubbles within the same clubs, for just five days. A PCR test to detect covid-19 will also be required.

Last Friday, the 17th, the Brazilian Football Confederation submitted an exceptional quarantine request for players arriving from England. The entity requested a special bubble system and pledged to monitor and restrict the movement of these athletes. In the last call-up, the players selected to play in the Premier League were goalkeepers Alisson (Liverpool) and Ederson (Manchester City); defender Thiago Silva (Chelsea); Midfielders Fabinho (Liverpool) and Fred (Manchester United), strikers Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Ravenha (Leeds United), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) and Richarlison (Everton).

Although it did not affect the results of the Brazilian national team, the rebuttal of the English clubs did have an impact on the team’s performance on the field. The decline in performance was observed mainly in the match against Chile, in Santiago, which they won 1-0 with a goal by Everton Ribeiro. To make up for the absence of banned players, Tite called up goalkeepers Iverson (Atlético MG) and Santos (Atletico – PR); Defender Miranda (São Paulo); Edenilson (international) and Gerson (Olympique de Marseille-FRA) steering wheels; Midfielder Mateos Nunes (Sporting Lisbon – Bor); The strikers are Hulk (Atlético MG), Malcom (Zenit Saint Petersburg, Russia) and Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid, Spain).

For the match against Venezuela, on October 7, Tite will not be able to count on Neymar, who is suspended for a second yellow card, but will have an important comeback for defender Marquinhos, who was knocked out in the 2-0 win over Peru. Only Edir Militao, Bruno Guimarães and Gerson were hanged. Handling a knee injury, Richarlison questionable for the match. With chances at Liverpool so short, Roberto Firmino must continue to make way for Gabriel Barbosa.

With 24 points and 100% success in the qualifiers, the Brazilian national team can qualify for the World Cup in this triple round, to be the first to guarantee a presence in the World Cup in Qatar, in addition to the host. If they keep a straight streak, and win all three games, Brazil will reach 33 points. To stamp the passport of the Arab country, they need the support of Paraguay, the first team to come out of the ranking area, to lose two of its confrontations – Argentina, Chile and Bolivia – and Peru suffer at least one setback.

Brazil will face Venezuela on October 7th in Caracas in the 11th round of the South American Qualifiers. After that, he goes on a trip to face Colombia on the tenth day, also away from his home country, in Barranquilla, in a late match of the fifth round. The selection ends the triple round against Uruguay, at Arena Amazonia, in Manaus, day 14.

Match with Argentina unresolved – As FIFA moves to secure the release of ‘English’ athletes to compete in qualifying in South America, the entity has yet to decide what the future of the Brazil-Argentina confrontation will be, pending after Anvisa and the Federal Police entered the field to comply with health measures. On the 13th of this month, the Brazilian Confederation sent its defense to the disciplinary committee of the maximum football entity, which opened procedures to investigate the case.

Through the minutes of the meetings, the CBF claims that it fulfilled its role as host of the match and alerted Argentina about the protocols in place in the country. FIFA has formulated the issue in Article 14 of the Disciplinary Code which deals with abandoned or unfinished games. The clause stipulates a fine of no less than 10,000 Swiss francs (57,000 Brazilian reais). A new date can be set for the match to continue, or the confrontation can simply be cancelled, with both teams losing.

The duel between the Brazilians and the Argentines, in the sixth round of qualifying, stopped five minutes after kick-off at the New Coimica Arena, on the fifth of September. Anvisa and PF agents revealed a breach of protocol by players Emiliano Martínez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Emiliano Buendía. The four work in England and will have to spend 14 days in isolation.