After questions of will they or won’t they, Brazil are to compete this summer as the national squad “are against the organisation of the Copa America, but we will never say no to the Brazilian team.”
It means Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino are all set to be in action over the next few weeks as Tite’s side push on amid their disgruntlement over the handling of events behind the scenes.
There had been suggestions that the Selecao could boycott this summer after the competition was moved to Brazil despite a surge of COVID-19 cases, a reason that saw Argentina and Colombia withdraw as hosts.
But after completing their World Cup qualifier commitments, that finished off with a 2-0 win over Paraguay on Tuesday – with Firmino the only Red to feature, playing 73 minutes – Brazil confirmed their stance as a collective.
“For various reasons, whether humanitarian or professional, we are dissatisfied with the conduct of the Copa America by Conmebol, whether it was entirely based in Chile or even in Brazil,” the player statement read.
— Alisson Becker (@Alissonbecker) June 9, 2021
“All recent facts lead us to believe in an inadequate process in its realization.
“We have a mission to fulfil with the historic five-time world champion yellow-green jersey. We are against the organization of the Copa America, but we will never say no to the Brazilian team.”
One can understand the difficult situation they have been placed in and they shouldn’t have even had to consider the situation, that is for the higher-ups.
But the decision by Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro to give the green light is to receive one last stress test as the country’s top court has scheduled an emergency session for Thursday to decide whether Copa America should be allowed to kick off on Sunday, as per ESPN.
No fans are set to be in attendance throughout but there remains strong opposition during a time when the health crisis continues to worsen.
If all continues to go ahead, as it looks like it will, Brazil will kick start the defence of their title against Venezuela on Sunday and compete until at least the end of the group stage on June 27.
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