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Copa America 2019, the premier South American continental tournament and the oldest continental tournament in the world, will kick off its 49th edition in June, with 5-time World Champions Brazil playing hosts. Neymar-led Brazil is the highest FIFA-ranked side (No.3) in the tournament and are hot favorites to lift what will be their 9th title, with the expectation from the home crowd immense on the Selecao, especially after having a disappointing 2018 FIFA World Cup where they defeated 1-2 by Eden Hazard's Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Adenor Leonardo Bacchi or 'Tite' as he is affectionately called, took over as Brazil manager in June 2016 after Dunga's second tenure as the Selecao manager ended in disaster with Brazil embarassingly getting eliminated in the group stages of the 2016 Copa America Centenario.
One of the most well-respected coaches in Brazil, Tite attained immortal status by leading Corinthians to the Copa Libertadores and the FIFA Club World Cup (by defeating Chelsea in the final) in 2012.
Despite the quarterfinal exit in the 2018 World Cup, the CBF (Brazilian Football Federation) has kept faith with the 57-year-old tactician and extended his contract till the end of the year.
Tite has rebuilt the Brazil squad into a formidable force, winning 27 of his 34 games in charge, losing just 2 games and scoring an incredible 69 goals (2.02 goals per game) while conceding only 10.
Tite surprised many with his 23-man Copa squad announcement last Friday, going with players that have played regularly for the Selecao under his tutelage, disregarding in-form players like Liverpool's Fabinho and Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Moura who have been setting the UEFA Champions League alight with their performances. In this article, we look at the Top 5 Brazilian stars who can be considered as unlucky to miss out on Tite's call, given their performances this season.
#5 Douglas Costa (Juventus)
28-year-old Juventus winger Douglas Costa was once regarded as Neymar's No.1 understudy but his place in the Brazil squad had to be surrendered to Ajax's David Neres due to his limited playing time at Turin this season.
A talented, pacy dribbler, Douglas Costa was overlooked by Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri, in favour of Italian winger Federico Bernadeschi, for most of the season. Costa has always performed well when called upon by Brazil and would have offered a Plan B against teams that park the bus against the Selecao, with his direct runs and capability to outrun any offside trap.
A lack of discipline might also be a consideration, with Costa having received a four-match ban in Serie A last September after spitting at a Sassuolo player. Having started only seven games for the Turin club this season under Allegri, Costa will be relieved by the axing of the Italian manager.
A mix of injuries, indiscipline and preference of the manager for Bernadeschi resulted in the mazy winger not getting enough minutes under his belt to merit a selection from Tite.
#4 Vinicus Junior (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid's 18-year-old sensation was set to make his full international debut for Brazil in the Selecao's last round of friendly fixtures, before he picked up an ankle injury, playing for Los Blancos against Ajax in March.
The speedy winger has made quite an impression at the Santiago Bernabeu in his first season with the club, after he was signed from Flamengo for a deal worth €46 million, the highest amount ever paid by a club for a footballer under the age of 19.
Averaging a sensational 2.4 successful dribbles per game, the mazy dribbler has lived up to his pricetag, providing 2 assists in 3 UEFA Champions League starts, 2 goals in 6 Copa Del Rey starts and 2 goals in 9 La Liga starts before injury sidelined him in March. The mercurial teenager has managed only 50 minutes of game time for Los Blancos since Zinedine Zidane took over as manager in March and this lack of competitive minutes is what has perhaps forced Tite's decision to leave out perhaps the best raw talent to come out of Brazil since Neymar.
#3 Felipe Anderson (West Ham United)
Despite being selected by Tite for Brazil's last round of friendly fixtures, West Ham United's 26-year-old playmaker Felipe Anderson couldn't make a strong enough case to warrant a call-up to the Copa America side.
Since his £36 million signing from Italian side SS Lazio in July 2018, Anderson has been a key player for the Hammers, providing 4 assists and netting 9 goals in the Premier League.
Considering that he plays for a side that finished 10th in the league standings in what is considered the toughest league in world football, this is a very impressive showing from the Santos academy product.
A member of the gold medal-winnning Brazil U-23 squad at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Anderson, who has only two Brazil caps to his name, was overlooked in favour of Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho and Everton's Richarlison both of whom have played more minutes than him under Tite.
Even with many pundits calling for Anderson to be selected ahead of Coutinho, because of the Blaugrana midfielder's poor form all season, Tite has stuck to his guns and kept faith in the little magician who also provides experience to the team having 47 caps (with 13 goals) to his name.
#2 Lucas Moura (Tottenham Hotspur)
The hero of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals for Tottenham Hotspur, Lucas Moura gave the world a demonstration of his class with a sensational hattrick as Spurs rode on his hat-trick to beat Ajax.
Having arrived at Tottenham in January 2018 for a transfer worth £25 million from Paris Saint-Germain, the 26-year-old, who is adept as both a winger and a false 9 was largely restricted to a bench role until Harry Kane's injury at the fag end of the season.
The Corinthians academy product has grabbed the opportunities given to him with both hands, scoring 5 goals in the Champions League, aside from notching up 10 goals and 3 assists in the Premier League.
An in-form player, he should have been ideally considered ahead of Everton Soares of Gremio who has no European League experience.
#1 Fabinho (Liverpool)
In another case of Tite's preference for experience instead of form, Manchester City's Fernandinho was picked instead of Liverpool's midfield lynchpin as the backup option to Real Madrid's Casemiro in the defensive midfield role.
One of the driving forces behind Liverpool's incredible 4-0 rout of Barcelona, the former Monaco man was instrumental in keeping Lionel Messi quiet throughout the game, scripting a famous victory for the Reds as they overcame a 3-0 first-leg deficit to progress into the Champions League final.
He has been a revelation for Jurgen Klopp's side since his arrival from French Ligue 1 side AS Monco at the beginning of the season for a deal valued at £39 million. Making the defensive midfield role his own, he made up a formidable combination with Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum to propel Liverpool to the UCL finals and give Manchester City a run for their money in the English Premier League title race.
A member of both the Copa America 2015 and the Copa America Centenario 2016 squads, his omission was perhaps the biggest surprise in Tite's squad announcement.
