The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvadefended this Friday that footballers who play abroad are excluded from the national team because, according to him, “there are no stars” abroad.
“Those outside are not better than those here,” Lula said in a radio interview, a day after the ‘Canarinha’ beat Chile 1-2 in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, with goals from Luiz Henrique and Igor Jesus, two players from Botafogo from Rio de Janeiro.
Meeting and proposal to the president of Conmebol
The president said that he recently met with the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the Paraguayan. Alejandro Dominguezand he suggested the possibility of calling only those who play in the country, which This would exclude footballers like Vinícius, Rodrigo, Militão and Endrick, from Real Madrid, or Raphinha, from Barça.
According to Lula, at this moment there is “no Garrincha or Romário” on foreign equipment; “a bunch of young people who haven’t cracked yet.”
“In Brazil there are good players and of the same quality (as those outside), so give the ones here a chance,” suggested Lula.
The president, who? He was a supporter of Corinthians from São Paulo, He likes to comment on current sports news during interviews and recently he has been critical of the situation of his team, which is in Brasileirao’s relegation zone, and the national team.
The ‘Canarinha’ defeated Chile and breathed a sigh of relief, after back-to-back defeats in World Cup qualifiers against weaker rivals, such as Paraguay.
With this result, the five-time world champions occupy fourth place in the table with 13 points, while the Chilean team remains ninth with 5 points, outside the classification positions.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
