No Neymar, No Chance? How Will Brazil Fare at Copa America Without Barca Star?

LOS ANGELES—Fingers can justifiably be pointed at Brazil coach Dunga for many reasons, and frequently are, but this summer it seems like circumstances are conspiring against him, too.

Despite his best efforts to change the situation, the CBF [Brazilian football federation] were involved in a Mexican standoff with Barcelona over Neymar’s availability for the Copa America Centenario and the Olympic Games, which they eventually lost.

Dunga wanted the country’s star player to feature in both, Barcelona insisted it could only be one. Brazil could call him up for the Copa and there would be nothing the Catalans could do, but then his club could block him from appearing at the Rio Games.

Of the two tournaments, the one Brazil are more desperate to win is the latter, firstly because it’s on home soil and secondly as they have never won it before.

So, despite a trip to Catalonia to negotiate with the club, eventually a deal was struck that sees him feature in the Olympics instead of the Copa, rather than as well as.

Then there are the drop-outs. Another Barcelona player, Rafinha, was called up but then was forced to leave the squad because of injury, with PSG’s Lucas Moura replacing him.

Ricardo Oliveira and Ederson were also injured, replaced by Jonas and Marcelo Grohe respectively.

The second huge absence is Bayern Munich star Douglas Costa. He was in the squad but suffered a thigh injury and had to be replaced by Kaka.

Kaka then managed to get injured himself and has been replaced in the squad by Sao Paulo midfielder Ganso.

Dunga had hit out at Palmeiras youngster Gabriel Jesus according to Sambafoot, hinting that he would rather have not called up Orlando City veteran Kaka but was forced to because the former had not sorted out his own US visa. Dunga said:

We would like to count on all the players. We have repeated here that players must always be in touch with Gilmar [Rinaldi, general coordinator of the Brazilian national team], with CBF and always ready to play. Not just physically and technically, but with all the documents. The choice of Kaka, firstly, was a technical decision. Unfortunately, other players could be here but they’re not here because they had no documentation.

That was the end of the trouble, right? Wrong. Captain Miranda was a doubt but passed a late fitness test for the Ecuador game, per Goal. And then first-choice defensive midfielder Luiz Gustavo pulled out of the squad for personal reasons.

There are other fine Brazilian players missing, too. Thiago Silva, Oscar, Marcelo, Roberto Firmino and David Luiz among them, but it’s unclear whether they’ve been reserved for the Olympics or simply dropped.

Dunga’s selection decisions have often been problematic, but while he is in charge, they have to be accepted.

So Brazil head into the tournament without a galaxy of stars, but several talented players remain in the squad. Can Dunga improve on the country’s horrendous showing in Chile a year ago?

After struggling through the group stage by beating Peru and Venezuela but losing to …

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