Last Friday, when Brazil called up their squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers, for the first time since the pandemic struck there were some journalists present. And an audible gasp went up in the hall when coach Tite completed reading out his list. There is no room in the 23-man squad for Vinicius Junior, who has made such an exciting start to the season with Real Madrid.
Tite is obviously, and quite correctly, enchanted with Raphinha of Leeds United, who made such a dramatic impact on the right wing in last month’s FIFA dates. And on the left wing, where Vinicius operates most frequently, the coach made it clear that, for this call up at last, two players are in front of Vinicius in the queue. There is the more constructive option of Lucas Paqueta, to balance the side out with a winger one side and a more complete attacking midfielder the other. And there is also Antony of Ajax, who had a promising campaign in the Olympic games and also did well off the bench last month, making Tite curious to have another look.
And so Vinicius has been left out.
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
– ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more
But the strange thing here is that, for this call up, there are spaces available. With the Brazilian Championship moving into its closing stages, and an all-Brazilian final of the Copa Libertadores coming up at the end of the month, Tite has decided not to call up any domestically based players.
In truth, the need to take this decision may have come as something of a relief. There is always populist pressure to field more players who make their living in Brazil. In recent years, when Brazil have been seduced down this path it has often gone wrong, and without the introduction of Raphinha it may even have ended up in a humiliating defeat to Venezuela.
And so there are a few extra spaces available. One of them has been ceded by Flamengo attacking midfielder Everton Ribeiro, and has been used to recall an old Tite favourite, Philippe Coutinho of Barcelona.
This may have raised a few eyebrows in Madrid, where Rodrygo of Real could argue that his claims were stronger, especially after El Clasico. But Rodrygo, seen with such enthusiasm by the Brazil coaching staff in 2019, has since been out in the cold.
Vinicius, meanwhile, has been part of the group. But he has received very few opportunities.
He had a few minutes off the bench in a friendly against Peru two years ago, and then returned in June for World Cup qualifiers, the Copa America and yet more World Cup qualifiers. But he has only started one game for his country, away to Chile in September, when he was replaced at the interval. His other six caps have all been gained as a substitute.
He has clearly yet to gain the confidence of the coach. It must have been very frustrating for him to sit on the bench for the last game, at home to Uruguay, when the team was playing well and had built a comfortable lead, and Uruguay, with a slow pair of centre-backs, were forced to open up and chase the game. The game was made for his explosive speed on the counter-attack, but others got the nod.
Back in Madrid, Vinicius has been arguing his case where it matters most — out on the pitch. A criticism of his game is that his finishing lacks accuracy. It is hardly a surprising complaint. It is hard to marry pace with precision, and Vinicius at full flight can find extra gears that carry him away from his marker. But he is clearly making progress, keeping his head still and picking his spot better. This is already by some distance the best goal-scoring season in his young career. And he responded to his international exclusion in the best way possible, by scoring both goals away to Elche at the weekend that took Real Madrid to the top of LaLiga.
It is hard to think of any other young Brazilian currently making the same impact on top level European club football. If Vinicius can maintain this form, it will make his absence from the national team look like a perverse injustice. And he has another opportunity on Wednesday, when Real host Shakhtar Donetsk in a crunch Champions League game. For Tite the exclusion of Vinicius is a short term embarrassment, perfectly capable of becoming a long-term solution if the player can successfully be incorporated into the national team.
The short-term problem belongs to the Ukrainian defenders who will have to try and catch the wind on Wednesday night.
