Among the various fights for position in the national team, one that draws the most attention at the beginning of qualifiers for the World Cup is the competition for a spot in the creative hub of coach Carlos Dunga’s midfield.
As captain and talisman Neymar is still serving his ban carried over from the Copa America, Brazil must find a solution to fill the 23 year olds shoes. Lucas Lima and Oscar are currently locked in a duelto see who can be the brains of the team that faces Chile on Thursday 8th October in Santiago, the first round of the qualification campaign for the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
The responsibility for being the “showman” already lies at the feet of Douglas Costa, following his electric start to life in Munich. As for the No. 10 role, the fight is greater. Oscar had been a key part in Dunga’s thinking but faced a wave of injuries that kept him out of the squad for a number of months. The last appearance the Chelsea midfielder made for Selecao was in March’s friendly against France, and even scored a goal in the 3-1 victory. Since then, he missed the friendlies against Mexico and Honduras in June and didn’t participate in the Copa America. Most recently he had to be cut from the friendlies against Costa Rica and the USA in September.
“I do not know if I will keep my place or not, but I will fight anyway so I can come back as a starter. I was outside, it was bad to have these injuries messing me up, but now I want to return to be among the starting 11,” said Oscar.
However, Oscar has a new challenger in waiting to the coveted Number 10 role. It was in the last two friendlies, played in New Jersey and Boston, which Lucas Lima appeared Dunga’s latest option. Lima, who featured for Santos in the Brazilian Championship was not intimidated by the pressure of this coveted position and even received praise from the boss and the coaching staff.
Another name has also been thrown into the equation following Philippe Coutinho withdrawing from the squad through injury. The evergreen Kaka, just doesn’t want to go away and has been drafted in by Dunga for these two games.
The 33 year old seems diplomatic in his approach as he discusses trying to retain a place in Dunga’s thinking acknowledging he must work diligently if he is to hold off the younger and enthusiastic advances of Coutinho and Oscar etcetera.
You shouldn’t really look to far away from Lucas Lima and Oscar for the number 10 role come the game against Chile on Tuesday. However Dunga has never been one to do everything by the book and could just pull a decision out of left field and let Kaka show the pretenders that he still has it.
