Dunga's Olympic Hopefuls

The Brazil Coach read out the list of 22 players who'll represent the Seleção Olímpica (Olympic Squad) in a friendly that will pit the hopefuls against a compound team of the best of the Brasileirão (Brazilian First Division).

The match has been scheduled to take place at Botafogo's spanking new Engenhão stadium on the 9th of December and the game - albeit a friendly - is bound to be tightly-fought as the freshly called-up names get a rare chance to strut their stuff with an eye on a potential place in Peking.

"It's up to them to show that they have the potential ready to be realised and are fit to represent Brazil by using the Canarinha [Canary Yellow Shirt]. I always say that the Olympic Squad is the same as the main squad in terms of what I expect and the player have a chance."

"In football the real truths are seen on the pitch during competition and the players are the people who get decide if they have got the right stuff to be fielded and are worthy of being called up again", explained Dunga as the list was released in Rio de Janeiro.

Given that all the names - with the conspicuous exceptions of AC Milan's soon-to-play-legally Alexandre Pato and coveted São Paulo centre-back Breno - are all local players, Goal.com provides an accelerated guide to bring those who aren't up to speed with the Brazilian League's latest crop.

Brazil Call-Up List - Peking Olympic Games 2008

Goalkeepers

Renan (Internacional)
Felipe (Santos)

Wing-Backs

Apodi (Vitória)
Leonardo (Portuguesa)
Nei (Atlético Paranaense)
Valmir (Palmeiras)

Centre-Backs

Leonardo (Grêmio)
Breno (São Paulo)
Luiz Rhodolfo (Atlético Paranaense)

Midfielders

Diego Souza (Grêmio)
Charles (Cruzeiro)
Leandro Almeida (Coritiba)
Maycon (Internacional)
Wagner (Cruzeiro)
Thiago Neves (Fluminense)
Diogo (Portuguesa)
Toró (Flamengo)

Strikers

Pedro Ken (Coritiba)
Pedro Oldoni (Atlético Paranaense)
Ramires (Cruzeiro)
Keirrison (Coritiba)
Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)

It's not a vintage according to the local experts. "The highlight really is Alexandre Pato, and of the rest the only names capable of generating whispering anticipation so far are Breno and Diego Souza", commented Lance! columnist Carlos Alencar, correctly, although perhaps a tad unfairly.

Each year sees the great clubs - and increasingly more obscure teams of lesser footballing nations - of the Old World cast their nets over the fertile football fishing ground of South America and catch future stars at ever-younger ages and the pickings are now scarcer.

This hasn't reached overfishing levels although the signs of scarcity are there, not just in the inflated prices paid for embryonic stars but in the paucity of exciting talent that has been grown and is coming to stardom on home soil rather than nurtured in the richest clubs' stables.

Three Brazilian clubs lead the standings as source stars with three players apiece - Coritiba, Atlético Paranaense and Cruzeiro - Portuguesa, Internacional and Grêmio contributing two while the rest - Santos, Vitória, Palmeiras, Fluminense and Flamengo - all chip in with a promise.

The main candidates to hog the limelight may already be in Europe or on their way there, but the following - apart from the self-evident Pato and Breno - but there are other players who could well be able to make a splash at national level.

One man whose been increasingly tipped to shine after a great year is Grêmio 's Diego Souza - a name that may ring a few bells, but it must be taken into account that there are at least two other players named Diego Souza playing in Brazil.

Fluminense's playmaking left-sided midfielder Thiago Neves is also a man who many expect to be a future star buy for a European great, although his somewhat convoluted ownership is the subject of tripartite legal wrangling between Flu, Paraná and Palmeiras.

The Rio de Janeiro-based playmaker is still with Fluminense after signing a contract extension and singing the praises of Coach Renato Gaúcho as the man responsible for ensuring he honed his talent sharp enough to carve a place in the seleção.

In the running for the prize of top Brasileirão 2007 revelation, Neves is seeing the Engenhão game as a fantastic Xmas present. “I think this ends the year on a high note thanks to 'Renato Claus' who's been a sort of Santa and helped me to reach national level."

Speaking after playing at a Maracanã fund raiser for charitable foundation Fundação Gol de Letra, started and run by ex-Brazil players Raí and Leonardo, Neves was clealy excited. "I'm running home to tell everybody about it”, he told the Jornal dos Sports (Sports Journal)

Faded São Paulo greats Portuguesa have finally made it back into the Brazilian elite after five years trawling the lower depths and wing-back Leonardo and attacking midfielder Diogo have been two of the men whose performances have brought many admirers.

Leonardo is being tracked by several Brazilian greats as well as attracting reported interest from PSG although it's the midfielder who's getting the lion's share of applause from pundits - and also was voted best Série B (Brazilian second division) revelation of 2007.

Diogo ended the season as Portuguesa's top scorer, the midfielder seen as bearing a large amount of the credit for helping raise the Canindé club back into the elite. He commented on the recent rise into the limelight after receiving the FBA (Futebol Brasil Associados) prize.

Right-back Nei is tipped by some for a rapid rise into the big time - if he can play his seleção olímpica cards right, and the Furacão flanker is geared up and eager to get stuck in. “It's a dream come true as every Brazilian footballer aims to wear the Canarinha with pride", he gushed.

“Even though it's a dream chance I have the responsibility to convince Dunga that I've got the right ability, attitude and performance to earn a place in the team”, he explained, adding that he was now fully recovered from an injury that cut a chunk out of his season.

“I have had good performances that have attracted attention, but unfortunately I was interrupted by two months out due to injury. The good news is that I've overcome that and look forward to showing that I am up to the task when it comes to playing for the seleção”, he finished

Fellow Atlético Paranaense man Rhodolfo has also been one of the reasons for Dunga's focus on Curitiba and the centre-back was equally starry-eyed. "It is my first cap and I hope I get a chance to play for the seleção and show Dunga that I should be in China next year", he explained.

The attack from Curitiba club Coritiba was also called up as both Pedro Ken and Keirrison (no spelling mistake) also caught Dunga's eye. 19 year-old Keirrison was the Coxa top scorer in the second division with a dozen goals netted - bringing the striker hot on the heels of Diogo in the FBA votes.

All in all it's a list that's a potential chocolate box of variety for fans to look forward to, perhaps containing some jaw-droppingly sweet revelations that linger and leave us wanting more as well as orange cremes that we'd prefer to feed the dog with, but it's worth bearing in mind that the 9th of December is a day to mark in your diary and, just maybe, see some future stars being born.