The Copa América begins tonight. 

Brazil vs. Bolivia

Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo, June 14, 2019

Kickoff: 8:30 PM EDT / 9:30 PM BRT / 12:30 AM GMT

US TV: Telemundo, Globo (apparently)

TAKE NOTE! Thanks to Telemundo (and apparently Globo, if you pay for their international broadcast), you don’t have to pay for ESPN+ here in the US, contrary to what I thought initially.

US Streaming: ESPN+, FuboTV

Expected Starting Lineup: Alisson; Dani Alves (C), Thiago Silva, Miranda, Filipe Luís; Casemiro, Fernandinho, Coutinho; Richarlison, Roberto Firmino, David Neres.

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Coincidentally, the squads for Brazil’s two major tournaments this summer, the Women’s World Cup and the Copa América, were announced back-to-back, yesterday and today. Here they are:

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On Friday the 17th, Tite will announce Brazil’s squad for the Copa América in June. He is likely to announce a 23-man squad, rather than a larger group from which a few players will be cut, which leaves him with some tough decisions. I read, though I can’t find it now, that he intends to start his training camp on May 20th, to begin working with every player not involved in the Champions League final as soon as possible. That would give him nearly a month to work with the players before Brazil opens the tournament against Bolivia on June 14. That interval might have been a good opportunity to call up a larger group, in order to observe some new faces before making final cuts, but it seems that is not to be.

So Tite is left with a bunch of tough decisions. Many of his favorite players, including a lot of the World Cup veterans, have underperformed for Brazil over the past year, while several newcomers to the Seleção made instant impacts that will be difficult to ignore, even though they’ve only played in two or three games so far. With that in mind, I’m going to try and lay out what his options are at each position, giving a depth chart based on how likely I think he is to choose each of these players. Note that I’m only including players who I see as having some remote chance of being selected—so no Oscar, no Vanderlei, no Lyanco, etcetera.

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Brazil vs. Czech Republic

Sinobo Stadium, Prague, March 26, 2019

Kickoff: 3:45 PM EDT / 4:45 PM BRT / 7:45 PM GMT

US TV / Streaming: ESPN3

Starting Lineup: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro; Casemiro (C), Allan, Lucas Paquetá; Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison.

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Normally I wouldn’t post a match preview so far ahead of the game, but seeing as Tite has already announced his starting lineup, I might as well.

Brazil vs. Panama

Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal, March 23, 2019

Kickoff: 1:00 PM EDT / 2:00 PM BRT / 5:00 PM GMT

US TV / Streaming: BeIN Sports (will only be shown live on TV on BeIN’s Spanish-language channel)

Starting Lineup: Ederson; Fagner, Éder Militão, Miranda, Alex Telles; Casemiro, Arthur, Lucas Paquetá; Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison.

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Brazil’s coach called up a really good squad—maybe the best of his entire tenure, considering the circumstances! Here’s the list of players who’ll be facing Panama and the Czech Republic at the end of March, directly from the CBF:

GOALKEEPERS

Alisson – Liverpool (ING)

Ederson – Manchester City (ING)

Weverton – Palmeiras

DEFENDERS 

Daniel Alves – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)

Danilo – Manchester City (ENG)

Miranda -Inter de Milão (ITA)

Thiago Silva – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)

Marquinhos – Paris Saint Germain (FRA)

Éder Militão – Porto (POR)

Filipe Luís – Atlético de Madrid (ESP)

Alex Sandro – Juventus (ITA)

MIDFIELDERS 

Casemiro – Real Madrid (ESP)

Fabinho – Liverpool (ENG)

Allan – Napoli (ITA)

Felipe Anderson – West Ham United (ENG)

Lucas Paquetá – Milan (ITA)

Arthur – Barcelona (ESP)

Philippe Coutinho – Barcelona (ESP)

ATTACKERS

Everton – Grêmio

Roberto Firmino – Liverpool (ENG)

Gabriel Jesus – Manchester City (ENG)

Richarlison – Everton (ENG)

Vinicius Júnior  – Real Madrid (ESP)

Here are some quick takeaways from this selection.

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On Thursday, February 28th, Tite will call up players for Brazil’s friendly games against Panama on March 23 and the Czech Republic on March 26. Ahead of that, here’s a status report on the players in contention for a spot:

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