Mano Menezes's First Brazilian Call-Ups: A Sneak Peak

The selection of Mano Menezes as the newest manager of the Brazilian national side has received the complete support of the Brazilian people and the Brazilian press, something we did not see with Dunga four years ago.

Mano Menezes, or as everyone calls him, Mano, has just finished up coaching his last game for Corinthians (for now hopefully) going out in wining fashion, a 3-1 victory over Guarani and the rise to first place in the Campeonato Brasileiro table.

He now has to figure out exactly who he will call up for Brazil's next friendly versus the United States in New Jersey this August 10. I have watched every single game he has coached since arriving at Corinthians after the 2007 season, and thus believe I have a small insight on what to expect from him at the Selecao .

Now I want to stress that this list is simply my opinion, I know that likely 50 percent will be correct however I have no way of knowing that now. Monday morning the list will be released and we will all see if I was close at all. Please keep in mind he will ONLY call up players playing IN Brazil for this game, or so the Brazilian press has been saying for a while now.

I will mark the possible starters with a * and I will mark the long shots with a ^ just so we know to be clear.

And without further ado, here is my list...

Goalie

Victor (Gremio)*
Fernando Henrique (Fluminense)
Felipe (Corinthians)^

Left Backs

Roberto Carlos (Corinthians)*
Gilberto (Cruzeiro)
Kleber (Internacional)

Right Backs

Leo Moura (Flamengo)
Jonathan (Cruzeiro)*

Sweeper

Miranda (São Paulo)*
Chicao (Corinthians)*
Alex Silva (São Paulo)

Midfield

Ganso (Santos)*
Elias (Corinthians)*
Jucilei (Corinthians)^
Hernanes (São Paulo)*
Sandro (Internacional)
Jorge Enrique (Corinthians)^
Kleber (Palmeiras)

Forwards

Andre (Santos)*
Neymar (Santos)*
Robinho (Santos)*
Dentinho (Corinthians)^
Diego Tardelli (Atletico-MG)

Last disclaimer for me: I don't know if he wants to put all these Santos players together at the front, but I honestly don't think he would start Robinho AND Andre, but would play just one instead.

The Corinthians players with ^ symbols are players who can play for the national side and are favorites of Mano; however, I can not guarantee they will get called up or even play.

Roberto Carlos is OLD, real OLD, but he actually has been playing very well for Corinthians and has in fact made himself the best left back in Brazil right now.

I also don't think he can call up so many players from just a few teams, leaving them stranded for a bit. But if you're gonna make a national side, you want to include the best players possible right?

We can see tomorrow exactly how it will turn out, hopefully I am gonna reach my prediction percentage.