Brazil have released their World Cup squad and with just 12 days remaining until the competition kicks off, those who missed out will be feeling the disappointment more acutely than usual.
From Spain, the likes of Eder Militao, Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior, Alex Telles and Raphinha have all made the squad. Dani Alves been training with Barcelona Atletic after the season with Pumas finished, in order to keep fit. Tite has called on him for his fourth World Cup.
Meanwhile Renan Lodi, who moved from Atletico Madrid to Nottingham Forest for more game time in order to make the squad, has also missed out.
His former teammate Matheus Cunha is also one of the unfortunate casualties. Following the announcement, Cunha posted an emotional video after he found out the news with this message.
“To everyone who keeps sending me messages, thank you. It was hard, it was painful, but that’s part of it. Our national team is spectacular and the competition is very high. Thank you from the heart for the support and we will be recovering our morale.”
po maluco
esse vídeo do matheus cunha triste por não ir pra copa me quebrou pic.twitter.com/Bq443SwPlA
— Goleada da Zoeira (@goleadadazoeira) November 7, 2022
Cunha has struggled for minutes at Atleti this season. The Brazilian forward has started just once, accumulating 487 minutes across 16 games. In addition he is yet to score this season, although he has provided two assists. The reality is, his current numbers do not make a good argument for his inclusion.
On the other hand, it could be argued that Dani Alves is not there based purely on sporting performance. Cunha has also been in all of the Brazil squads he has been available for in 2022.
