Brazilian national team manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has said that he wants to see the quality of the young players he has at its disposal, which led to the call-up of several players under the age of 20 for the recent friendly match against Bolivia. Brazil managed to win this encounter 4-0, thus marking the first victory for Scolari since returning as the Brazil manager a few months ago. It has been a tough few months for the former Chelsea manager, as he has seen his team lose against England and only draw against Italy and Russia.

Santos striker Neymar has been heavily criticised by various section of the media after his poor performances in these three matches. Neymar was largely anonymous in these three matches, but he returned back to his best by scoring two goals against Bolivia. Scolari has also said that one of the reasons behind the call-up of several young players is the fact that he did not want the Brazilian clubs to be affected. The domestic campaign for the league clubs went on as usual despite the international break. Calling up several players from the clubs like Corinthians and Santos would be harmful to them.

Hence, Scolari predominantly called up youngsters for this match.

“We had difficulties selecting the squad, as we couldn’t harm the Brazilian teams. Only Corinthians released a bigger amount of players (four). We included the younger players so that they have an opportunity, travel and know the atmosphere. They will adapt, get used to their teammates. If the situation allows it, I’ll have them play, so the under 20 manager Gallo and I can see how they will react. I can use Jean as a fullback, which is something I couldn’t do under other circumstances,” said Scolari after the 4-0 victory.