Dunga picks Brazil squad with 10 World Cup players

Brazil soccer coach Dunga, right, is embraced by Brazilian Soccer Confederation President Jose Maria Marin, after a press conference announcing Dunga as the new head coach of the Brazilian national team

Brazil coach Dunga named his first squad since returning to the national team on Tuesday — with 13 players from the World Cup squad missing out.
Full backs Marcelo and Dani Alves were among the biggest names not called up for the friendlies against Colombia on Sept. 5 in Miami and Ecuador on Sept. 9 in New Jersey.
Dunga replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari after Brazil’s disappointing finish to the finals, a humiliating 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany and a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands in the third-place match.
Neymar, Oscar and David Luiz all survived the cull, while newcomers include Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, Atletico Madrid’s Miranda and the Brazilian league’s leading scorer Ricardo Goulart.
Most of the players returning were starters at the World Cup, including Hulk, Luiz Gustavo, Fernandinho and Maicon. Captain Thiago Silva was not called up because he is injured.
“History shows that you can’t start from scratch, it’s important to keep some of the previous structure in place,” Dunga said. “Slowly we will be giving opportunities to the younger players. It’s not because of one bad result that everything was wrong.”
Dunga said other World Cup players may be back in the future. “It’s important that all players know that this is just the beginning of our work,” the coach said. “It doesn’t mean that the players not in this list won’t have another chance with the national team. The doors will remain open to all Brazilian players.”
Striker Fred, who scored only one goal in the World Cup, was among those left out. Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho, who hadn’t made it to the home tournament, remained off the list, as did Lucas Moura of Paris Saint-Germain.
The match against Colombia is likely to pit Neymar against Colombia defender Juan Camillo Zuniga, who fractured the Brazilian star’s back in the World Cup quarterfinals, ending his tournament.
Brazil is expected to play two other friendlies this year, against Argentina on Oct. 11 in Beijing and Turkey on Nov. 12 in Istanbul.
The team’s next tournament is the 2015 Copa America.

Tales Azzoni, Sao Paulo