March 17th 2024.
Unfortunately, the Brazilian national team will have to do without midfielder Casemiro for their upcoming friendly games in March. The Manchester United player has been forced to pull out of the squad due to an injury, casting doubt on his availability for the highly-anticipated FA Cup clash against Liverpool this Sunday.
According to the Brazilian Football Confederation, Casemiro was expected to play in the matches against England and Spain on March 23rd and 26th respectively. However, the CBF announced on Saturday night that the midfielder will no longer be able to participate in these games.
In light of this news, Brazil's coach Dorival Júnior has called up Porto striker Pepê to take Casemiro's place in the squad. "He was called up to replace Casemiro, from Manchester United, who was cut due to injury and is out of the friendlies against England and Spain," read a statement from the CBF.
Speaking about Casemiro's injury, Coach Dorival Junior said, "We have just received a report from Dr. Rodrigo Lasmar. From a pre-list made by the Brazilian National Team's technical committee with 50 names, 13 of them were already away due to injury at their clubs. Unfortunately, we also lost Casemiro. Therefore, Pepê, from Porto, a native striker who now plays as a midfielder, is called up."
Casemiro has been in good form for United this season, scoring five goals so far. However, the exact nature of his injury and the estimated recovery time have not been disclosed by the five-time World Cup winners.
This unfortunate news also raises doubts about Casemiro's availability for United's FA Cup quarter-final clash against Liverpool. The club has not made any official statement regarding his injury, but his withdrawal from the national team suggests that he will not be able to play on Sunday.
In addition to Casemiro, United has a few other players on the injured list, including Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, and Tyrell Malacia. However, they will have the likes of Rasmus Hojlund, Harry Maguire, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka available for the match, with Mason Mount also in contention to make his first appearance since November.
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