Dani Alves will become Brazil’s oldest World Cup captain in their final group game against Cameroon on Friday.
The former Barcelona full-back, now 39, was a controversial inclusion in head coach Tite’s squad for the finals in Qatar amid claims that he had merely been called up to act as a minder for close friend Neymar. Alves, now plying his trade in Mexico for UNAM Pumas, will take the armband as Tite prepares to make wholesale changes to the Selecao's starting lineup, with top spot in Group G guaranteed if they avoid defeat.
Alves, who recovered from a knee injury to make his third World Cup finals, said: “For me it represents the fact that I can wear the Brazil jersey. It makes me very proud to be here. I’ve been with the Brazilian squad for many years and to be able to wrap up this cycle, playing a World Cup, makes me very happy.
“It’s been 16 years with the national squad and I’ve tried to do my very best. Life, I think, always rewards the people who love what they do, who truly do their best in the mission.
“I think I’m reaping what I have planted over those 16 years.”
While Alves will start on Friday, Tite is expected to choose either Juventus ’ Danilo or Real Madrid's Eder Militao at right-back in the tournament’s latter stages. He has insisted he is not yet looking towards a last-16 clash with either Ghana, Portugal or South Korea.
“We have 26 great players and I do not have time to be focusing on the broader picture,” Tite said. “We are busy working, preparing our players. I have a little time to have dinner with my family after matches and the work goes on.
“We are fully focused on preparing for the next match. We have a clear objective.
“We have played two matches with two different teams and now we play the third match with a completely different team.
“We’ll make a few changes, we’ll include keys players. In two games we used 19 players. We do not call them starting players or reserves. They are all players.”
Cameroon gave themselves a lifeline when hitting back from 3-1 down in their second group game against Serbia to draw 3-3, must win and hope Switzerland fail to beat Serbia to stand any chance of a last 16 spot. But even victory over the five-time World Cup winners may not be enough.
Head coach Rigobert Song said: “With regards to what is at stake tomorrow, we know the Brazilian squad off by heart. But we aren’t worrying about what they’re going to bring to the game, it’s about what we bring to the game. Yes, they have already qualified for the next round. That’s a luxury we haven’t got, however we can’t worry about what they’re going to throw at us.
“We know they’re a very strong team, but if we think about that and concentrate on them – are they going to shake up their squad? Are they going to rotate positions?
“I don’t really care about what they’re going to do, it’s about us. We are preparing as if we’re playing a final.”
