Vinicius to lead Brazil front line as Dorival reveals lineup for Venezuela clash

In the match against Venezuela, Brazil will start with Ederson, in goal; Vanderson; Marquinhos; Gabriel Magalhães and Abner, in defence; Bruno Guimaraes, Gerson and Raphinha, in midfield; and Savinho, Vinicius Junior and Igor Jesus, in attack. This was confirmed on Wednesday by coach Dorival Junior.
The team will be the same as the one that started against Peru in the last round of qualifiers, with the only new addition being Vinicius, who was absent from the last call-up due to injury.
Rodrygo's absence is due to the fact that the striker will be sidelined for at least a month due to an injury “in the rectus anterior of the left leg” that he suffered in the first half of the match between Real Madrid and Osasuna last Saturday, as confirmed by the Spanish club.
Brazil face the duel against the 'Vinotinto' after having improved their recent form thanks to the victories against Chile (1-2) and Peru (4-0), while Venezuela comes from losing away against Paraguay (2-1) and drawing at home with Argentina (1-1).
However, Dorival stressed that the team coached by Fernando Batista “has been growing for many years and developing a very serious work” and clarified that, "although it will not be easy ”, he is confident of getting a good result.
Lucas Paqueta will once again sit on the bench, which sparked the journalists' questions, to which the Brazilian coach replied that no player “stops being a starter” and that the moment the Flamengo midfielder is going through cannot be ignored.
“In Chile, with the arrival of Gerson, we gained mobility. It's not the fault of who left, Paqueta is at a very good level and has my confidence. Suddenly, he can come on and be decisive,” he said.
The team coached by Dorival Junior is in 4th place in the World Cup qualifiers, with 16 points, 5 more than Venezuela, in 8th position, which means they would be out of the 2026 World Cup. After that, the 'Selecao' will face Uruguay on the 19th in Salvador.