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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kieran Horn

What Neymar did as Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli's Brazil World Cup inclusion was revealed

Brazil manager Tite announced his 26-man World Cup squad on Monday, which saw two of Arsenal's three Brazilians named as well as Tottenham's Richarlison. Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli both made the cut but their club team-mate Gabriel Magalhaes was not selected.

All three have played massive roles in Arsenal's surge to the top of the Premier League table, with Gabriel partnering the imperious William Saliba, while Martinelli and Jesus are half of the Gunners superb forward line alongside Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.

Despite their club form though, they were snubbed in September's international break which introduced doubts about which of them, if any, would be heading to Qatar in November.

READ MORE: Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli make Brazil World Cup squad but Arsenal team-mate snubbed

Many of the selected players for Brazil have been posting their reactions to being named, with Richarlison and Manchester United winger Antony among those who recorded the celebrations with their families.

In contrast, Jesus and Martinelli kept things relatively simple, with the latter posting an image of him in action for Brazil and Jesus sharing a brief promotional video of his previous moments in the famous yellow.

Jesus has made over 50 appearances at senior level for his country so his inclusion, despite his current mini-goal drought was hardly surprising, however the selection of Martinelli seems to have raised a few eyebrows, in particularly those of star man Neymar.

While listening to the squad announcement, the Paris Saint-Germain forward smiled when Jesus was named but then raised his eyebrows seemingly in a shocked manner upon hearing Martinelli's name.

His emotion quickly changes though as he is the next player to be confirmed, and while there's likely nothing to it, it is possible the 30-year-old could be concerned about his minutes in the tournament, with in-form Martinelli occupying a very similar position.

Brazil boss Tite was very complimentary of Martinelli though following the squad announcement listing his 'aggressiveness' as one of the many traits that has seen him included.

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