SAO PAULO: Ronaldinho and Pato have been recalled to Brazil’s squad for Saturday’s friendly away to Bolivia in aid of the family of a young fan killed by a flare at a Libertadores Cup match last month.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Tuesday also included Santos ace Neymar and several untested youngsters in an experimental 18-man list, picked only from the domestic league, for the match in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia’s tropical lowlands.
Atletico Mineiro playmaker Ronaldinho, picked for Scolari’s first match in charge against England last month, lost his place to Kaka in later friendlies against Italy and Russia after playing poorly and missing a penalty in a 2-1 defeat at Wembley.
Striker Pato, who joined Corinthians from AC Milan this year, makes a comeback after last appearing for Brazil in a friendly against Sweden last August under former coach Mano Menezes.
Brazil, who as 2014 World Cup hosts are not involved in the South American qualifiers for the tournament, are preparing to host the Confederations Cup in June.
Teenage fan Kevin Espada was killed by a flare launched by Corinthians fans in the Brazilian team’s visit to the Bolivian city of Oruro where they began the defence of their Libertadores title against San Jose in mid-February.
Twelve Corinthians supporters accused of being involved in firing the flare are being held in an Oruro jail awaiting trial.
Bolivia, meanwhile, recalled Brazilian-born striker Edivaldo Rojas, who plays for Japanese team Shonan Bellmare.
Edivaldo became a naturalised Bolivian in 2011 just in time to become part of the squad at the Copa America where he scored in a 1-1 draw against hosts in Argentina but has been overlooked for the World Cup qualifiers.
Bolivia are second-bottom of the South American qualifying group standings with nine points from 11 matches and have little chance of reaching to the finals.
Spanish coach Xabier Askargorta is preparing Bolivia for World Cup qualifiers in June against Venezuela and Chile. — Reuters