Ronaldo has been recalled by Brazil for its
away friendly against Croatia after being left out of the World Cup
qualifiers and Confederations Cup in the last two months.
Fellow striker Robinho, who played his first match for Santos on Sunday
after finally completing a $30 million move to Real Madrid, was also
included for the match in Split on August 17.
However, Ronaldinho was left out as he is suspended for Brazil's
following World Cup qualifier at home to Chile on September 4, for which
the Croatia match is being used as a warmup.
Central defender Roque Junior was omitted from the squad for the same
reason.
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said he was keeping the base of the team
which won the Confederations Cup in Germany last June, beating Argentina
4-1 in the final.
The main difference was the return of Ronaldo, who was left out of the
Confederations Cup at his own request but also missed out on the
preceding World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Argentina in which
he had expected to play.
"I hope to see a motivated Ronaldo, in form and ready for the World Cup,"
Parreira told reporters. "He's been training hard and we hear that he is
much thinner."
Parreira said he had intended to leave out Robinho, who refused to play
for Santos after the Confederations Cup unless they agreed to sell him
to Real.
Real finally agreed to pay the Brazilian champion $30 million for the
21-year-old on Saturday and Robinho, who will stay at Santos until the
end of the month, returned to the side for Sunday's 4-2 win over
Corinthians.
"He hadn't been playing so he wouldn't have been picked," said Parreira.
"But by the time we face Croatia, he will have played three of four
games and I expect him to be able to play at least a half." |
