Pereira, Arthur named in Brazil squad for friendlies

IANS  |  Rio de Janeiro 

has included Manchester United's and Barcelona's in a vastly changed squad for friendlies against the and next month.

Teenage Flamengo goalkeeper was also selected despite having never played for the club's first team.

But there was no place for Manchester City trio Gabriel Jesus, Fernandinho and Ederson while Real Madrid left-back Marcelo and Inter Milan centre-back Miranda were also left out.

face the in on September 7 and in four days later.

The matches will be the team's first since their 1-2 quarter-final defeat to in last month.

Pereira's selection comes just a week after he made his (EPL) debut for Manchester United in a deep-lying midfield role.

The 22-year-old is also eligible to play for Belgium, the country of his birth but has publicly stated a preference for Brazil, where both his parents are from.

said he plans to test as many young players as possible ahead of next year's Copa America in and the start of qualifying tournament later in 2019.

"It's time to take a look at these players," he told a news conference in "The players who missed out have their importance but now we are taking the opportunity to observe a new generation."

said Brazil's elimination left a "bad taste" and defended star forward Neymar, who has been heavily criticised for apparent play-acting during the tournament.

"I'm not here to or conceptualize behaviours," he said. "I'm not going to give my opinion about what people say, what the deserves praise for his behaviour, for his discipline."

The 57-year-old reaffirmed his belief that is among the world's top three players and insisted that Brazil's No. 10 "has great potential to grow more."

Brazil squad:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Hugo (Flamengo), Neto (Valencia)

Defenders: Alex Sandro (Juventus), Dede (Cruzeiro), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fagner (Corinthians), Felipe (Porto), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), (PSG)

Midfielders: (Manchester United), Arthur,(Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fred (Manchester United), (Flamengo), (Barcelona), (Beijing Guoan)

Forwards: Douglas Costa (Juventus), (Liverpool), (PSG), (Fluminense), Willian (Chelsea), (Gremio).

--IANS

tri/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, August 18 2018. 16:38 IST