RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's national football team head coach Dunga announced on Thursday the roster for two friendly matches to be played in the U.S. in September.
The Brazilians will face the U.S. team in Chicago on Sunday Sept. 9, and the Mexicans in Boston on Wednesday Sept. 12. Those will be the two last games before their debut in the 2010 FIFA World Cup playoffs, on Oct. 14, against Colombia in Bogota.
The announcement was held one day following Brazil's victory 2-0 over Algeria, in Montpellier, France, the team's first game after winning the 2007 Copa America title in July. The highlights of the friendly were midfielders-strikers Kaka and Ronaldinho.
The two players stayed on the bench during the first half, which was regarded as a "punishment," because the head coach was not pleased by their refusal to play Copa America. As the team did not score, Dunga decided to "make peace" and released the two into the game. In return, Ronaldinho passed the ball to Diego, who opened the score. Later, the Barcelona star scored one goal by himself.
For that, Kaka and Ronaldinho will continue in the roster for the next two matches. The entire list relies on: goalkeepers JulioCesar (Internazionale) and Doni (Roma); wingbacks Maicon (Internazionale), Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin)and Kleber (Santos); defenders Lucio (Bayern Munich), Juan (Roma),Alex (Chelsea) and Alex Silva (Sao Paulo); midfielders Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Josue (Wolfsburg), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin), Fernando (Bordeaux), Elano (Manchester City), Julio Baptista (RealMadrid), Kaka (Milan) and Diego (Werder Bremen); strikers Robinho (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Vagner Love (CSKA Moscow) and Afonso (Heereveen).
