Brazil coach Tite maintained the team’s defence, formed by João Miranda and Marquinhos, but dropped Chelsea winger Willian for Philippe Coutinho.
Philippe Coutinho trained in place of Willian during the first-team training, as the Seleção prepare to face Bolivia on Thursday at the Arena das Dunas, in Natal. The Liverpool midfielder, who replaced the Chelsea man in the second half against Ecuador and Colombia last month, earned his spot after improving the team’s offensive performances in the two matches. In training at the Arena das Dunas, the coach maintained the defensive duo from his first two games. Miranda and Marquinhos will start against Bolivia, while Thiago Silva should be on the bench.
As mentioned in Globo Esporte, Thiago Silva has the full confidence of Tite, and the expectation is that he would regain his place with time, but has been out of the squad for a while. Thiago Silva was not called up since the Copa América last year when Dunga, who stripped the player from national team captaincy in 2014, lost patience following his mistake in the elimination to Paraguay. It is worth remembering that Tite put Thiago Silva alongside Neymar and Marcelo as the most prestigious Brazilian players in world football, and said the trio had “undoubted qualities.” He also said that the defender will be one of the captains of the national team.
Scorer of nine goals since debuting at Zenit, almost two months ago, Giuliano will replace suspended midfielder Paulinho. Filipe Luís and Fernandinho, as expected, will come in place of Marcelo and Casemiro.
Brazil training XI: Álisson; Dani Alves, Marquinhos, Miranda, Filipe Luís; Fernandinho; Giuliano, Renato Augusto, Philippe Coutinho, Neymar; Gabriel Jesus.