Brazil name World Cup squad
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from April 1990.
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There were no surprises in the group, which consists of the players with whom Lazaroni has been working for the last 12 months. It contains seven survivors from the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico -- Muller, Mozer, Branco, Careca, Silas, Alemao and Mauro Galvao.
Lazaroni said the only change would be made if PSV Eindhoven striker Romario, who broke his leg in March, did not look like recovering in time for the competition.
"Everything we have done so far has been good but in a World Cup we have to achieve a lot more. Every game is a decision, a war," Lazaroni told a crowded and chaotic press conference at the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) headquarters.
Twelve of the squad are based with European clubs, while five of the 10 others play for Rio club Vasco, the current Brazilian champions.
Lazaroni said all 22 players were good enough to hold down a first team place. Lazaroni said he had announced his squad early to avoid a repeat of the 1986 World Cup preparation when Brazil took 24 players to Mexico and the fear of being one of the two left out created a tense atmosphere in the squad. He also wants as long as possible with his squad before the start of the competition. Preparation begins on April 23 with medical tests on theplayers in Rio, while training camp at the team's headquarters in Teresopolis, a mountain resort 90 kilometres from Rio, starts on April 25.
But he is unlikely to have his entire squad together for the whole period. Several of the European-based players have club commitments after April 23 but only Silas, Jorginho, Aldair and Romario have contracts requiring their clubs to release them.
Goalkeepers - Taffarel (Internacional), Acacio (Vasco), Ze Carlos (Flamengo)
Defenders - Branco (Porto), Mazinho (Vasco), Jorginho (Bayer Leverkusen), Mauro Galvao (Botafogo), Aldair (Benfica), Ricardo Gomes (Benfica), Ricardo Rocha (Sao Paulo), Mozer (Marseille)
Midfielders - Silas (Sporting Lisbon, Valdo (Benfica), Bismarck (Vasco), Tita (Vasco), Alemao (Napoli), Dunga (Fiorentina)
Forwards - Careca (Napoli), Muller (Torino), Bebeto (Vasco), Romario (PSV Eindhoven), Renato (Flamengo).
