Midfielder Philippe Coutinho lamented on Tuesday the muscle injury in his right thigh that left him out of the list of 26 called up by Brazil for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and said that, despite the absence, he will be "heart and soul" encouraging the Canarina.
"The World Cup is a dream for any player and, although I will not be present, I will be with my heart and soul cheering on the national team like all Brazilians," said the English Aston Villa player in a message he posted on social media.
The former Barcelona midfielder, who was one of the stars of Brazil in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, thanked the technical committee of the Brazilian team for having taken him into account in the South American World Cup qualifiers, despite the fact that he will not finally be in Qatar.
"As you know, I had an injury that took me away from the courts for a few weeks. I came to thank you for the positive messages I'm receiving," said the soccer player, who said he hopes to recover in the best way to come back stronger.
"With positivity and faith I look forward, focused on recovering in the best way and coming back stronger. Difficulties are part of life, but there are still many good things to come," the emotional message ends.
The possible call for Coutinho was one of the big doubts before the coach Adenor Leonardo Bacchi "Tite" announced the list for the World Cup on Monday because the midfielder, despite not having a good time at Aston Villa, is one of the coach's most trusted players.
The doubt was cleared up by Aston Villa, who announced on Sunday that the player is injured and needs a few weeks to recover before returning to the pitch, so he would not be in his best condition in Qatar.
Although Tite did not say whether he had included him on his list before the injury, he did admit to speaking with Coutinho on Sunday and said he shared the midfielder's pain at missing the World Cup.
Coutinho's injury ended up favoring midfielder Éverton Ribeiro, who a week ago was crowned champion of the Copa Libertadores with Flamengo and ended up included in the squad.
