Brazil have unveiled their World Cup 2022 squad and it’s not without a number of notable absentees. High-profile players to miss out include Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, Atletico’s Matheus Cunha and Arsenal defender Gabriel.
Closer to home, few would have expected Diego Carlos to have featured given that the former Sevilla defender is still recuperating from an Achilles injury sustained in the home win over Everton. Carlos was part of the gold medal-winning side that included Douglas Luiz at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Embed from Getty ImagesLuiz, who has seen a surge in consistency for Villa and recently signed a new deal, was the dark horse for a call-up for the controversial tournament in Qatar.
However, Luiz has been overlooked by Brazilian coach Tite who has opted to omit him from the final 26-man squad. Instead, midfielders Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle), Casemiro (Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham) have been preferred.
Finally, Philippe Coutinho won’t appear due to injury, despite being expected to have been selected despite a slump in club form during the 2022/23 campaign.
Carlos, Coutinho and Luiz will now stay behind with the remainder of the Villa squad without international commitments and are set to depart for warm-weather training in Dubai shortly.
The Villa Underground supports the campaign to boycott the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. We refuse to remain silent whilst the most watched football festival takes place on the graves of thousands of migrant workers.