Arthur Elias completes women's squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics

The coach of the Brazilian women's soccer team, Arthur Elias, released the list of 18 players and 4 substitutes, at a press conference to announce those selected for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The announcement event took place this Tuesday (2) and had some surprises.

Marta, Cristina and the call-up list

The list made by Arthur Elias, coach of the national team, for the Paris 2024 Olympics, is made up of 18 starting players, in addition to four substitutes who will take the place of one of the starting players in case of injury before the start of the competition and its games.

The Olympic coach called up nine players who played in the last Women's World Cup, which took place in 2023. And one of these athletes was the iconic Marta, who is 38 years old, and with this call-up, will participate in her sixth Olympics.

Another veteran, Cristiane, 39, who was also not called up to participate in the World Cup last year, was left out.

The surprise, however, came with the name of Kerolin. The striker has been out of action for eight months, since suffering a serious injury to her knee.

“Kerolin suffered an ACL injury and is in her eighth month of recovery, very close to an ideal recovery. I personally went to evaluate her training at her club, and she is already doing all the training with the players. For me, she was one of the main players on the national team in the last competitions, even playing in a position she had never played before. It is a bet that I am taking.”, commented Arthur Elias, about the situation and the motivation for listing the player.

_{Marta will be going to her sixth Olympics after being called by Arthur Elias to be part of the 18 starting players of the Brazilian Women's National Football Team (Photo: reproduction/Instagram/@martavsilva10)}

The list of 22 summoned

Among the 18 starting players and the other 4 substitutes is the veteran and most famous football player in the world, Marta.

Lorena, from Grêmio, and Tainá, from América-MG, are the Goalkeepers;

Antônia, currently without a club, Tamíres and Yasmin from Corinthians, will be the Full-Backs;

Rafaelle, from Orlando Pride, Tarciane, from Houston Dash, both from the USA, and Thais Ferreira, from Tenerife, Spain, were the Defenders;

Ana Vitória, from Atlético de Madrid, Spain, Duda SAmpaio and Yauá, both from Corinthians, are the Midfielders;

Adriana and Martha, from Orlando Pride, Kerolin, from North Carolina Courage, all from the USA, as well as Gabi Nunes, from Levante in Spain, Gabi Portilho and Jheniffer, from Corinthians, as well as Ludmila, without a club, close the Attack;

The substitutes will be: Luciana, goalkeeper for Ferroviária, Priscila, striker for Internacional, Laura, from Kansas City Current and Angelina, from Orlando Pride, both from the USA.

Respect

Not called up for the Women's World Cup last year, in 2023, Cristiane, 39, was also left out of the list of 22 players who will go to Paris 2024.

Arthur Elias was emphatic about this. Calling the athlete “Cris,” the Olympic coach explained what motivated her non-selection.

In his words, he explained that Cris, despite a good season for Flamengo in the Brasileirão, was left out due to a numerical issue. The Olympics require 22 players, unlike the World Cup list, which requires 23, indicating that Cris would be included in the list if there were one more spot.

The coach also stated that he will contact her, out of respect, responsibility and sensitivity towards the player.

Featured photo: The coach of the Women's Football Team, Arthur Elias, announced the call-up of the athletes who will make up the Brazilian team for the Paris 2024 Olympics (Reproduction: X/ @arthurelias)