Last Thursday, Brazilian Women’s National Team head coach Jorge Barcellos announced the team’s preliminary roster for an upcoming friendly versus Canada (March 24th, at Gillette Stadium outside of Boston) and the Women’s Kirin Challenge Cup in April. Twenty-one players were called, including several overseas-based players such as Marta, Christiane, and Fabiana, who did not participate in the squad’s prior two training camps this calendar year.
Update, 18-Mar-2012: Upon further research, I can fairly confidently confirm all the player names for the roster, thanks to the CBF releasing a player pool list the day after I posted this, originally.
Brazil will travel to Boston on March 20th and will apparently remain in the USA until March 31st, when they will depart for Japan.
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In the roster, below, I have added links to the player’s Wikipedia entry, where available. For two of the players’ nicknames — outside-backs “Dani” and “Rafinha” — I am unable to conclusively determine who the actual player is.
BRAZIL’S WNT ROSTER: CANADA FRIENDLY & KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP
Goalkeepers (Goleiras):
- Andreia Suntaque: Brazil’s veteran goalkeeper (b. 1977). (Wikipedia)
- Bárbara Barbosa: was a back-up ‘keeper at 2011 WWC (WWC profile)
Central Defenders (Zagueiras):
- Aline Pellegrino: currently with WFC Rossiyanka (Wikipedia)
- Erika: (Wikipedia) Note: in the previous roster, Erika was listed as a volante (defensive/holding midfielder)
- Bagé/Daiane (Wikipedia)
- Renata Costa (Wikipedia)
Sidebacks (Laterais):
- Rafaelle/Rafinha:* (Rafaelle Souza) is a sophomore at the Ole Miss. Has played in a U-17 WWC and a U-20 WWC. (FIFA player profile) (Ole Miss student newspaper feature)
- Fabiana: currently with WFC Rossiyanka (Wikipedia)
- Maurine (Wikipedia)
- Rosana (Wikipedia)
- Dani: (Danielli Silva, b. 21-Jan-1987), primarily plays on the left.
Midfielders (Meio-campo):
- Formiga (Wikipedia)
- Gabi/Gabriela: Gabriela Zanotti Demoner, who played for Franklin Pierce University (NCAA D2, New Hampshire)
- Fran/Francielle (Wikipedia)
- Ester (Wikipedia)
- Bia/Beatriz (Beatriz Zaneratto João), b. 17-Dec-1993. Veteran of the 2010 U-17 WWC and the 2011 WWC (1 match, as a sub) FIFA.com profile, FIFA.com 2011 WWC profile page
- Maria (Maria Aparecida S. Alves): a U-20 player
Forwards (Atacantes):
- Marta: recently signed with Swedish top division team Tyresö FF (Wikipedia)
- Cristiane: currently with WFC Rossiyanka (Wikipedia)
- Thaisinha (Thais Duarte Guedes): b. 20-Jan-1993. has competed in the 2008 and 2010 U-17 WWC, as well as in the 2011 WWC (1 match, as a sub). FIFA.com profile, FIFA.com 2011 WWC profile page
- Grazi/Grazielle: (Wikipedia). Note: in a previous camp roster (January 2012) Grazielle is listed as a “Meia” (half/middle).
Source for the current roster and travel dates: CBF.com.br article (Portuguese).
(18-Mar-2012, see also: CBF.com.br article listing the team’s Olympics player pool. Which is not broken down by position, but does list correct nicknames along with current team information. I’ll have a translated and annotated version of that list in the next few days.)
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