Brazil President urges to call up only players who play in Brazil

Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, defended on Friday the exclusion from the national team of players playing abroad because, according to him, there are no top players abroad. 

"Those who are abroad are not better than those who are here," he said during a radio interview, a day after the Canarinha beat Chile 1-2 in the World Cup qualifiers.

The president said he recently met with the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and raised the possibility of calling up only those who play in the country, which would exclude players like Vinícius, Rodrigo, Militao and Endrick, from Real Madrid, or Raphinha, from Barca.

According to Lula, at the moment there is "no Garrincha or Romario" in foreign teams; only "a lot of young players who are not yet cracks".

"In Brazil there are good players of the same quality (as those abroad), so give opportunities to those who are here," he said.

The president, who is a fan of Corinthians of Sao Paulo, likes to comment on sports news during interviews and has recently been critical of the situation of both his team, which is in the relegation zone, and the national team. 

The ‘Canarinha’ beat Chile and breathed a sigh of relief after a series of defeats in the World Cup qualifiers against supposedly weaker opponents, such as Paraguay.

With this result, the five-time world champions occupy fourth place in the table with 13 points, while the Chilean national team remains ninth with five points, outside the qualification places.