Alves, 39, makes Brazil squad, Firmino left out

Brazil coach Tite holds a list of players after announcing the squad for the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. (Reuters)

• Martinelli is among nine forwards in a list dominated by 12 players from Premier League

Brazil have included 39-year-old defender Daniel Alves but left out Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino in their 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 champions 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 from 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. Alves, the oldest player ever named to a Brazilian World Cup squad, he will be participating in his third edition of the tournament. According to Tite, Alves’ long history with Brazil and leadership qualities in the changing room were valuable but not the main reason he got a spot in the squad. “He adds technical and tactical aspects that are impressive, to be an organiser, an articulator,” Tite said. “Sure he is not a 60 to 70 metres player anymore, but he has other virtues. The criteria awards his technical quality, but mental and physical aspects too.” Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli is included among nine forwards in a list dominated by 12 players from England’s Premier League. The emergence of a new generation of attacking players like Martinelli, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Raphinha, Gabriel and Pedro has resulted in Firmino, 31, failing to make the squad. Aston Villa attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho also did not make the list after sustaining a thigh injury in training over the weekend that will sideline him for several weeks. Brazil will take four centre-backs — Juventus’ Bremer, Paris St Germain’s Marquinhos, Chelsea’s Thiago Silva and Real Madrid’s Eder Militao, while leaving out Roger Ibanez (AS Roma), Lucas Verissimo (Benfica) and Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal). The “Selecao” will be led by Neymar, looking to end the five-time champions’ 20-year World Cup title drought. The 30-year-old striker has been having a stellar season at PSG with 15 goals and 12 assists in 19 matches. Playing in his third World Cup, he will be looking to show up critics who accuse him of diving and failing to deliver when it counts. He will be joined up front by the likes of Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid and Arsenal’s Jesus, giving the tournament favourites serious firepower. Brazil had an undefeated World Cup qualifying campaign to finish first from South America, conceding just five goals in 17 matches. The Brazilian FA also announced that former PSG manager Ricardo Gomes will join Tite’s staff as an assistant. The squad and Tite will gather on November 14 at Juventus’ training facilities in Turin, where Brazil will hold a five-day training camp before flying to Doha on November 19. Brazil, seeking a sixth title with a team led by PSG star Neymar, open their World Cup campaign in Qatar against Serbia on November 24 and also face Switzerland and Cameroon in Group G.Can Brazil replace players on World Cup roster? Once the final 26-man roster is official, participating teams at the World Cup can only make changes before the first game of the tournament, and only in the case of extraordinary circumstances. According to the official tournament rules, “a player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury or illness up until 24 hours before the start of his team’s first match.” The team in question would need to submit a medical report to FIFA and if the world governing body determines “the injury or illness is sufficiently serious to prevent the player from taking part in the FIFA World Cup” then the replacement will be allowed. The replacement player must come from the preliminary list of players submitted to FIFA in October.

SquadGoalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras) Defenders: Bremer, Alex Sandro (both Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid) Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), Thiago Silva (Chelsea), Danilo (Juventus), Daniel Alves (Pumas), Alex Telles (Sevilla) Midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Casemiro, Fred (both Manchester United), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (West Ham United) Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli (both Arsenal), Neymar Jr (Paris St Germain), Pedro (Flamengo), Raphinha (Barcelona), Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur), Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr (both Real Madrid)