[Saba Sports News] Brazil’s weakest position is full-back, and misfortunes never come singly. In the friendly against Egypt on June 6, right-back Wesley Vinícius França Lima was injured and substituted early. He was seen crying on the bench, an indication that his injury was serious and he feared missing out on his first World Cup.
After a thorough examination by the team’s medical staff on June 7, Wesley was diagnosed with a Grade 3 adductor strain in his left thigh. He will need at least three to four weeks to recover and is unlikely to be fit before the end of the World Cup, forcing Brazil to rule him out of the squad. On May 11, the Brazilian Football Confederation submitted a 55-man preliminary World Cup squad to FIFA. Paulo Henrique de Oliveira Alves and Victor Alexander da Silva were the alternative options for the right-back position. However, both players have been in poor recent form and have only earned two caps for Brazil each. Calling them up would make little sense.
Against this backdrop, Carlo Ancelotti called up defensive midfielder Éderson José dos Santos Lourenço da Silva of Serie A side Atalanta. By adding a defensive midfielder instead of another right-back, Ancelotti clearly moved to fix the loopholes in his original call-up list.
In my view, currently, Brazil only have two regular defensive midfielders, Carlos Henrique Casimiro and Fabio Henrique Tavares, so an additional reinforcement in this position is a sensible move. Besides being a solid defensive anchor, Éderson can also operate across midfield and poses attacking threat, which will further strengthen Brazil’s midfield unit.