Striker Adriano was recalled by Brazil on Thursday for
their World Cup qualifiers away to Argentina and at home to Chile
next month.
Coach Dunga included Flamengo's former Inter Milan forward, last
picked in March, for the games against Argentina in Rosario on
Sept. 5 and at home to Chile in Salvador four days later.
Having recovered from off-field problems that almost caused him
to quit football, Adriano is among the top scorers in the Brazilian
championship with 10 goals in 16 games.
He was released by Inter in April and returned home, rejoining
his first club Flamengo within weeks.
"He has recovered the joy of
playing football," Dunga told reporters. "In the
national team, Adriano always showed his potential and
commitment.
"What happened was that in his club (Inter), for various
reasons, he didn't manage to have the same happiness and the same
performance."
Adriano has been particularly
successful against Argentina.
He headed the injury time equaliser in a 2-2 draw in the 2004
Copa America final which Brazil won on penalties and scored twice
in the 2005 Confederations Cup final in Germany in Brazil's 4-1
victory over their arch-rivals.
Dunga dropped Atletico Mineiro's Diego Tardelli, who made his
debut in this month's 1-0 friendly win in Estonia, to make room for
Adriano.
Adriano did not play in Brazil's qualifiers on March 29 and
April 1 and was overlooked for the two in June, his last appearance
dating back to Brazil's 2-0 win over Italy in a friendly in London
in February.
There was also a recall for
Liverpool midfielder Lucas in place of Flamengo's
Kleberson, who injured his shoulder against Estonia, but otherwise
Dunga has kept the core of the squad that retained the
Confederations Cup in South Africa in June.
Brazil lead the South American group on 27 points with four
matches to go. Chile are second a point behind with Paraguay third
on 24 and Argentina fourth with 22.
The top four in the 10-nation group go through to the 2010 World
Cup finals in South Africa while the fifth-placed team qualifies
for a playoff against a CONCACAF opponent.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Victor (Gremio)
Defenders: Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Daniel Alves (Barcelona),
Maicon (Inter Milan), Filipe (Deportivo La Coruna), Lucio (Inter
Milan), Luisao (Benfica), Miranda (Sao Paulo), Juan (AS Roma)
Midfielders: Elano (Galatasaray), Felipe Melo (Juventus),
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires
(Benfica), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (Real Madrid), Lucas
(Liverpool)
Forwards: Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Robinho
(Manchester City), Adriano (Flamengo)
soccernet.