Brazil name youthful squad for Copa America

Brazil coach Dunga on Thursday named a youthful squad for the Copa America Centenario in the United States in June, with the country having one eye on the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.

As announced last month, Barcelona superstar Neymar is not in the squad of 23 after his club said they would only release him for the Olympics football tournament.

Others such as Paris Saint-Germain duo David Luiz and Thiago Silva and the Real Madrid left-back Marcelo had already been ruled out but Dunga also left the likes of Kaka, Oscar and PSG winger Lucas out of his final squad.

The list contains seven players eligible to feature in the under-23 squad that will be chosen for the Olympics, including PSG defender Marquinhos, Monaco defender Fabinho and Barcelona midfielder Rafinha Alcantara.

Barcelona's Daniel Alves, Zenit St Petersburg forward Hulk, Wolfsburg midfielder Luiz Gustavo and Willian of Chelsea are survivors of the 2014 World Cup to feature in a squad which also contains Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho and Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa.

The special centenary edition of the Copa America, to be held from June 3-26, will be the first to be staged outside South America.

Brazil, beaten quarter-finalists in last year's tournament in Chile, have been drawn in Group B along with Ecuador, Haiti and Peru.

Dunga's side will kick off their campaign against Ecuador in Pasadena, California on June 4.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Internacional), Diego Alves (Valencia/ESP), Ederson (Benfica/POR)

Defenders: Joao Miranda (Inter Milan/ITA), Gil (Shandong Luneng/CHN), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo), Daniel Alves (Barcelona/ESP), Fabinho (Monaco/FRA), Filipe Luís (Atlético Madrid/ESP), Douglas Santos (Atlético Mineiro)

Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg/GER), Elias (Corinthians/BRA), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan/CHN), Willian (Chelsea/ENG), Lucas Lima (Santos), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool/ENG), Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich/GER), Casemiro (Real Madrid/ESP), Rafinha Alcántara (Barcelona/ESP)

Forwards: Ricardo Oliveira (Santos), Hulk (Zenit/RUS), Gabriel (Santos)

Source :AFP