Football
ESPN staff 8y

Neymar missing as Brazil put seven young players on Copa America squad

Brazil's final 23-man squad for the Copa America is missing Barcelona star Neymar as expected but includes seven players who will also be eligible to play in the Olympics.

Selecao coach Dunga accepted the Catalan club's request to use Neymar either at the Copa America or at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August -- and the Olympics took priority.

The Copa America Centenario is a special edition of the tournament to be played at sites throughout June in the United States -- outside of South America for the first time -- while in August Brazil are hosting the Olympics, where they have never won a gold medal.

Neymar might not be available, but his Barcelona teammates Dani Alves and Rafinha were selected for the Copa squad. Other famous names in the squad include Hulk, Douglas Costa, Casemiro, Philippe Coutinho, Willian and Luiz Gustavo.

Missing the cut from the initial 40-man squad were PSG's Lucas Moura, Liverpool's Roberto Firmino, Manchester City's Fernandinho, Chelsea's Oscar, Arsenal's Gabriel Paulista, Lazio's Felipe Anderson and Orlando City's Kaka.

Rafinha is one of seven players born in 1993 or later who will also be eligible for the Rio games, along with defenders Marquinhos, Fabinho, Rodrigo Caio and Douglas Santos, forward Gabriel and goalkeeper Ederson.

The team also feature seven members from clubs in Brazil,  who will be without key players in the middle of the domestic league season.

Three players have been selected from Santos alone, but Dunga said playing with the national team will help them when they return to their clubs.

"We have talked a lot about it with the clubs and I can put myself in the position of the club coaches," Dunga said. "When we look at this question, the fear is that the player will be a long time away from his club, but we have had a great reception from the coaches because they understand that this is the moment of player.

"They see that there is something bigger to the player's absence; it is the dream of every player to defend the Selecao. But we all talk about it, we all have opinions, no one is trying to trap anyone else.

"There has be to a mutual agreement. When a player returns, they will return to their club with more experience, more confident, more motivated. It is always a two-way street."

Brazil are in Group B with Ecuador, Haiti and Peru and start their campaign on June 4 against Ecuador in Pasadena, California.

The full squad:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Internacional), Diego Alves (Valencia) and Ederson (Benfica)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Fabinho (Monaco), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Douglas Santos (Atletico Mineiro), Miranda (Inter Milan), Gil (Shandong Luneng), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo)

Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Elias (Corinthians), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Rafinha (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Lucas Lima (Santos) and Willian (Chelsea)

Forwards: Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Hulk (Zenit), Ricardo Oliveira (Santos) and Gabriel (Santos)

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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