Sports
Brazil name Pereira, Rafihna for U-23 Eagles friendly
The Brazilian Football Confederation has announced a strong 22-man squad for the international friendly against Nigeria’s U-23 Eagles billed for March 24 at the Estadio Kleber Andrade in Cariacica, Espirito Santo.
Manchester United’s Andreas Pereira and Lazio’s Felipe Anderson were named among the list, with 10 of the 22 players in the squad plying their trade in Europe.
The squad also included Barcelona midfielder, Rafinha Alcantara, with the CBF confirming they had been in contact with the Spanish champions regarding the availability of the 23-year-old who is currently recovering from a serious knee injury sustained in September.
Read also: Buhari hails victorious U-23 Eagles
“Regarding Rafinha Alcantara, the technical committee of the Olympic team have been in contact with the player’s club and are awaiting his release for training or matches, pending further advice from Barcelona in relation to his continued recovery,” read a CBF statement.
Coach Dunga, believed to be hoping to draft in Internacional goalkeeper, Alisson, Inter defender, Miranda and Barcelona star Neymar, as the three overage players, will have to negotiate their releases from their respective clubs who are under no obligation to release players for the tournament.
The Olympic Selecao will also play South Africa on March 27 at the Estadio Rei Pele in Maceio, Alagoas.
Brazil Olympic full squad:
Goalkeepers: Ederson (Benfica), Matheus Vidotto (Corinthians)
Defenders: Doria (Granada), Rodrigo Ely (Milan), Wallace (Monaco), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo), Fabinho (Monaco), Zeca (Santos), Wendell (Bayern Leverkusen), Douglas Santos (Atletico Mineiro)
Midfielders: Rodrigo Dourado (Internacional), Thiago Maia (Santos), Matheus Salles (Palmeiras), Rafinha Alcantara (Barcelona), Andreas Pereira (Manchester United), Felipe Anderson (Lazio)
Forwards: Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras), Alisson (Cruzeiro), Malcom (Bordeaux), Gabriel (Santos), Luciano (Corinthians), Luan (Gremio)
In from Ripples Nigeria
RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...