With the World Cup approaching, the rosters of the participating teams have all been announced, with the squad of Brazil, ranked No. 1 in the world, attracting the most attention. In Brazil's roster, there are not only nine strikers, but also 39-year-old Alves, as well as 38-year-old Thiago Silva, two veterans whose selection is controversial, especially Alves.
Alves, who currently plays for Mexico's Cougars, is present in the non-top five leagues and is too old, but he was surprised to be able to play with Brazil in the World Cup. What is even more puzzling is that they are the same flying wings of the past! The 39-year-old Alves can be selected for Brazil, why did the 34-year-old Marcelo fail?
Based on Marcelo's previous performances in Brazil, it makes sense that he was not included in Brazil's World Cup list. In the 2014 World Cup semifinals, Brazil lost 7-1 to Germany on their doorstep, being humiliated by their opponents. In that game, Brazil's main left-back was none other than Marcelo, whose performance in the game was a disaster, full of defensive holes, and one of the main culprits for Brazil's successive goals conceded, which was questioned by Brazilian fans. It is worth noting that Brazil's main right-back in that game was not Alves, but McConn, who undoubtedly "escaped".
In the 2018 World Cup, Marcelo once again represented Brazil, and his performance was also poor, and he finally saw Brazil lose to Belgium and miss the World Cup semifinals. In that tournament, Alves was unable to participate due to injury. Marcelo has not played for Brazil since the end of the 2018 World Cup and his national team career appears to be over.
Marcelo had a chance to prove himself, but he gradually depraved. After winning the Champions League three times with Real Madrid, Marcelo was not enterprising, and he was riddled with injuries, and his performance in Real Madrid became worse and worse, and he was finally squeezed out of the main squad by Mendy and became Real Madrid's iron substitute. Marcelo joined Greek side Olympiacos on a free agent this summer, and so far Marcelo has only played five games for Olympiacos, he came off the bench and was plagued by injuries and had no form to speak of, and is now ignored by Brazil, which is a normal result.
Alves, on the other hand, represented Brazil in the 2019 Copa America as captain and main player, and helped the team win the championship, and in the 2020 Olympic Games, Alves won the championship again as captain and main player. Alves also played as a "firefighter" at Barca last season and performed well. While playing for the Cougar this season, Alves played in 12 games, starting every game, contributing four assists and still in form.
At his peak, Marcelo was on par with Alves. But as he grew older, the honorable Marcelo had no intention of fighting, but Alves continued to break through himself, he was the player who won 44 titles and won the most titles in his career, how could Alves not be recognized by the Brazilian team. Today's Marcelo is not as good as Alves, and it is very reasonable to miss Brazil's World Cup roster in Qatar.