Dunga: I haven't shut Amauri out
Brazil boss Carlos Dunga insists that by not selecting Amauri for Tuesday's friendly with Italy, he protected the player.
Dunga, who chose to call up Adriano, Luis Fabiano, Robinho and Alexandre Pato, originally snubbed the Juventus striker.
However, when Fabiano got injured days before the game, Dunga tried to replace him with Amauri but Juventus would not release the 28-year-old.
“The truth is simple,” Dunga told Il Corriere dello Sport. “On the one hand, there is a situation of great competition.
“I have a hierarchy - Luis Fabiano, Adriano, Robinho and Pato - as well as a group of attackers under observation like Vagner Love, Keirrison, Kleber and Neymar.
“I would have been able to select Amauri and that's all,” Dunga explained. “I was a player, too, and I looked to protect him.
“An avalanche of pressure arrived with regard to him. I am not going to fight against the world. If it's like this all the time, I won't call him up.”
When asked if he should tell Amauri he doesn't have a future with Brazil, Dunga was very pragmatic.
“I don't think about this,” he said. “If there is one stupid thing in football it is to say the word 'never.' I have not closed the door to Amauri.”
Amauri's international future is a hot topic in Italy. The former Palermo attacker of Brazilian descent has applied for an Italian passport and could play for the Azzurri if granted citizenship.
Amauri has been in excellent form since joining Juventus in the summer. He has scored 11 goals in 23 appearances for the club in Serie A.
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