Ronaldinho, Pato, and Neymar All Left Out of the Brazil World Cup Squad

Ronaldinho may have just missed his last chance to represent his country on the world football's biggest stage.

The A.C Milan playmaker was the biggest high profile omission that Brazil manager Dunga made.

Ronaldinho turned 30 back in April, and himself and his Milan teammate Alexandre Pato will have to watch the World Cup as spectators rather that participants.

Dunga also chose not to bring young Brazilian starlet Neymar to South Africa.

Also, Ronaldo, Adriano, and Roberto Carlos all failed to find a place among the 23.

Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano, and Roberto Carlos all featured for Brazil in the 2006 World Cup, with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho starting in all five of Brazil's matches.

Only three members of the Brazil starting XI from the 2006 World Cup have made it on the plane to South Africa.

Kaka, the second most expensive player in the world, and defensive duo Lucio and Juan.

The Brazil manager played it very safe with regards to the four strikers he has decided to take with him.

Sevilla's Luis Fabiano along with Grafite, Robinho, and Nilmar make up the striking options for Brazil.

Wolfsburg's Grafite is the oldest striker at 31 years old, while Nilmar is the youngest of the four at 25.

The exclusion of both Neymar and Pato may come as a major surprise to many, but Dunga seemed set to lay his goalscoring hopes on the shoulders of Sevilla's big man.

The 6"0' striker has an impressive goal to game ratio. Fabiano averages a goal every second game with his La Liga side.

Even more impressive is his scoring ability wearing the yellow of Brazil.

Fabiano has netted 25 times in 36 appearances, which is an average of two goals every three games.

Dunga expects Grafite and Nilmar to back up Fabiano when called upon.

Grafite has scored 50 league goals since joining Wolfsburg in 2007, and was the top goalscorer in Germany last year as he helped Wolfsburg lift the Bundasliga title.

Nilmar has had a somewhat successful second attempt at European club football, and managed 11 La Liga goals this year for Villarreal.

Dunga has kept the status quo in his team selection as only three new faces have entered the team who were not regulars during the qualifying campaign.

The exclusion of Ronaldinho was somewhat expected as Dunga has failed to include the 2004 & 2005 FIFA World Player Of The Year winner in his set-up.

The Brazilian coach has opted against bringing the young talents of Pato and Neymar along to the World Cup, in a bid to leave the drama that would follow them behind.

The world is talking about the ability and quality that is possessed by the young 18 year old Neymar.

The eyes of the world would be on his every move during the competition and for the young star to make his national debut at the World Cup may just be a step too soon.

Pato has made eight previous appearances for his country, but similar to Neymar, there is a lot of rumours about his future spreading through clubs.

Dunga has gone with the safe, vanilla striking options for Brazil, and if the competitions second-favourites do not make some noise in South Africa, Dunga may have his squad and position questioned.