Luiz Felipe Scolari has controversially revealed that he would have picked Atlético Madrid forward Diego Costa had the Brazilian born striker not switched his allegiance to Spain.
Costa has represented Brazil before in two friendly fixtures but decided to represent La Roja recently and should he recover from injury he’ll go to the World Cup with Spain.
Today, however, Scolari insisted that he would have picked the enigmatic striker had he not committed himself to another country.
AS report Scolari as saying: "I was going to summon him for the World Cup.
"Was I wrong? I don’t know. He would be at the World Cup with Brazil. I talked to him twice about it.
"The problem is there are other interests behind it. With Diego Costa becoming a naturalised Spaniard another space [in Atlético’s squad] opened up in Europe.
"There’s a whole set of interests. Diego Costa would be with us. He plays as a seven, a nine, or even as an 11. People to try to run him over and go crashing. He’s strong as a bull."
High praise from the Brazil coach for the Brazilian born forward but sincerity over his comments will be questioned by those who feel he is simply saying this because Costa has now committed to Spain.
