razil has included 39-year-old defender Daniel Alves but left out Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino in its 26-man World Cup squad which was named by coach Tite on Monday.
After leaving Barcelona at the end of last season, Alves went to Mexico to try to keep his dream of playing in his fourth World Cup with five-times champion Brazil.
But he played his last game for Pumas in September and sustained a knee injury that has been troubling him since.
Alves has been working on his recovery with the Barcelona academy medical and technical staff over the last few weeks.
“We have been following his recovery up close and all the data that we have from Barcelona doctors show that he is fit to play,” Brazil team physician Fabio Mahseredjian told a news conference in Rio de Janeiro
Perhaps ominously for Portugal’s Group H rivals, the 37-year-old Ronaldo has endured a frustrating season so far at Manchester United and will be eager to show what he can do in Qatar. Ronaldo is already the all-time top-scorer in men’s international soccer with 117 goals and has made a Portuguese record 191 appearances. The five-time five Ballon d’Or winner has scored goals wherever he has played, whether in his first stint at United, in a trophy-laden spell at Real Madrid or in helping Juventus win two Serie A titles before his return to the Premier League. However, his return has not gone as he would have liked so far this season. Ronaldo has been restricted to only one goal in nine Premier League appearances — most of those as a substitute.
So much of Argentina’s hope is pinned on the little artist from Rosario. The 35-year-old Messi has eclipsed Ronaldo with seven Ballon d’Or titles, all but the last of those coming for his outstanding play while at Barcelona. Now with Qatari-backed Paris Saint-Germain, Messi missed out on the 30-man shortlist for the 2022 Ballon d’Or award. Messi, however, has regained his form this season. He came close
Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 134 goals, the 35-year-old Suárez is set to play at his fourth World Cup tournament. It will be his first while playing back with boyhood club Nacional in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo after a storied career that wasn’t without controversy at Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. Suárez was sent home from the 2014 World Cup for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder during a group game. Suárez helped Atlético win the Spanish league title in his first season with the club in 2021, staying another season before he returned to Nacional. He dueled with Ronaldo when they were playing for Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, and the old rivals are scheduled to meet again
the best attacking right backs ever to play the game, the 39-year-old Alves is determined to finish his international career on a high, particularly after missing the last World Cup because of a knee injury. Alves has only played in two World Cups, in 2010 and 2014. He came to prominence with lightning runs up and down the right side of the field in a successful spell at Sevilla before moving to Barcelona in 2008. He spent eight trophy-laden years at the Catalan club before spells at Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, then São Paulo, before a return to Barcelona last year. He joined Mexican club Pumas this year
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