It's time for Brazil to get back on track and move on after a frustrating ending to the 2021 Copa America. La Verde-amarela are ruling in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers standings and want to continue on that way. But this international window will be challenging for them as they'll miss several starters, including Richarlison.
Tite's team has been flying since the South American Qualifying began, remaining unbeaten after six games and taking control of the table. But between the last fixture and this one they suffered a major blow when Argentina beat them in the continental cup final.
The U23s then redeemed the national team by claiming Olympic glory in Tokyo 2020, a campaign in which Everton star Richarlison shone. Unfortunately, the striker will miss the upcoming games.
Why was Richarlison not called up by Brazil?
The reason why Richarlison won't play for Brazil in this international break is quite simple, the Premier League clubs decided not to release their players this time. Their controversial decision was based on the number of games each player would miss as they'd have to comply with a 10-day quarantine and probably need more days of training before returning to action.
Brazil, therefore, are being left without several regular starters for this triple-fixture. Richarlison has established himself in Tite's starting eleven and has also been on fire in the Olympic Games, scoring five goals and providing an assist in six games.
Now, La Canarinha will try to extend their perfect streak and pick up from where they left off on Matchday 8, but it won't be easy. Besides Richarlison, they'll miss Ederson, Alisson, Thiago Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, among many others.
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