Tite, Brazil’s coach, referred to Dani Alves as a “articulator” in explaining his choice to select the 39-year-old in his World Cup team.
Few anticipated Alves to defy expectations and make the Brazil squad after leaving Barcelona in the summer to join UNAM in Mexico’s Liga MX. He has also been dealing with a knee issue, but Tite has lavished praise on the experienced right back, emphasizing the whole package he will bring to Qatar.
“He adds amazing technical and tactical features, such as being an organizer and an articulator.” Sure, he’s no longer a 60-70 metre player, but he has other qualities. “The criteria honors his technical quality, but also his mental and physical qualities,” Brazil’s coach said after unveiling his final 26-man team.
Alves is now receiving therapy for a knee injury that has kept him out of the UNAM lineup for over a month. Fabio Mahseredjian, Brazil’s team doctor, is sure that he can regain match fitness before flying to Qatar. “We have been closely monitoring his rehabilitation, and all of the data that we have from Barcelona physicians indicates that he is fit to play,” he said.
Alves has 124 international caps and played every minute of Brazil’s 2021 Olympic campaign in Tokyo, when the Selecao U23s won gold.
The defender hopes to be in peak condition when he reports to the Brazil national team’s pre-World Cup camp in Turin on November 14. They will fly from Italy to Doha five days later.
