If there’s one player that best represents the national team’s reconstruction under Menezes, it would be Lucas Leiva from Liverpool.
Lucas has been called up for every Brazil squad since Menezes took over from Dunga last year. Despite his abilities as a footballer and being one of Liverpool’s best players, it also seems that Menezes has a special bond with the player.
Indeed, it was Menezes who brought Lucas into professional football. He coached him at Gremio in the Serie A and B of the Brazilian Championship and made him team captain.
In an interview with Sambafoot, Lucas said: “Mano doesn’t select a player on the basis that he knows him; it is impossible as he worked with so many!” Instead, Lucas believes that his presence in the Brazilian squad is due to his work and performances with Liverpool.
“What I have done in Liverpool is what has brought me here,” he continued. “It’s logical; Mano trusts my ability.”
Despite being happy in England and successfully establishing himself at Liverpool, Lucas said he was happy to play for the Seleção and to be back in Brazil on the pitches that he has missed.
By Thales Machado, Sambafoot’s man in Goiânia.
