Eight players who were in Brazils's 4th place finishing FIFA World Cup squad on home soil last summer have been included in the final 23 man squad for the Copa America in Chile this summer. The one absentee from this squad is Chelsea midfielder Oscar who has been withdrawn from the squad due to injury. Instead, Liverpool's Phillipe Coutinho, who had an amazing season at Liverpool, for which he garnered PFA Team of the Year honors, will take his place in the midfield.
Dunga said Oscar, who missed Chelsea's game against Crystal Palace on Sunday after a collision with Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina the previous week, has not been selected due to fitness concerns. The coach added that Oscar would be back for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers starting in September.
"Oscar picked up an injury during the last training session with Chelsea," he said. "We spoke with Jose Mourinho and the Chelsea doctors. His recovery will be prolonged, and so he would not be in the best of form for the Copa America."
Among the eight returning, with the exception of Filipe Luís, who was on the successful Confederations Cup squad, 14 new players have been included, mostly a majority of players called up in recent friendlies ever since Dunga took over as manager after the World Cup for Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Casemiro and Danilo, both currently playing for Porto but owned by Real Madrid, also make the cut as well as Diego Tardelli, who is currently playing for Shandong Luneng in China, and Everton Ribero, who joined UAE club Al-Ahli earlier this year, have both been selected, marking the first time the Selecao includes players from those leagues.
Brazil boss Dunga has also included Santos attacker Robinho, along with Chelsea duo Willian and Filipe Luis, but took Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho over Chelsea's Ramires.
Dunga's men have been drawn alongside Peru, Colombia and Venezuela in Group C.
This year's edition of the Copa America kicks off on June 11, with the final scheduled for July 4 as the Selecao look to win their first Copa America since 2007, which was won during Dunga's first stint and their ninth in total.
The rest of the squad is as followed:
Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Diego Alves (Valencia), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio)
Defenders: Fabinho (Monaco), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), David Luiz (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (PSG), Miranda (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Elias (Corinthians), Casemiro (Porto)
Attackers: Everton Ribeiro (Al-Ahli), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk), Willian (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Robinho (Santos), Neymar (Barcelona), Diego Tardelli (Shandong Luneng), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim)