Every time national team managers make their call-ups, they get criticised for naming or not naming players. That has always happened and always will.
Now as Brazil coach Tite released his latest list on Friday, the attackers called-up for the upcoming games were Raphinha, Philippe Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, Antony, Matheus Cunha, Roberto Firmino and Neymar.
With the Leeds United star doing great in his first appearances for the national team, there was apparently no reason to complain about his inclusion this time, but now we see that Spanish media having a go at that.
There was of course a big name missing in Tite’s list, which is Vinícius Junior. His form for Real Madrid makes him one of the best Brazilians around, and the coach was heavily criticised in his country for it.
Now as Spanish outlet Defensa Central writes about it, they say it’s ‘something that escapes any logic’ that the Galactico couldn’t take the a place from Coutinho, Cunha, Antony or Raphinha.
We must say that Raphinha was truly impressive in his first three games for Brazil in the last international break. With two goals and two assists, he was by far the national team’s best player, and is close to guaranteeing a place at the World Cup, with the local media falling in love with what he’s shown. Even his performances for Leeds United have been getting a lot more attention in his country since then.
So even though Defensa Central is probably right to complain about Tite’s decision not to call up Vinícius Junior, they better take a look at what’s really happening in international football as well. Not only the Leeds star, but also Ajax’s Antony, have been showing more than the Real Madrid player when performing in South America.
