Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira avoided any major surprises as the champions named their 23-man World Cup squad yesterday.

Sao Paulo captain Rogerio Ceni, who has scored more than 50 goals from free-kicks and penalties in his career, won a place as a third-choice goalkeeper as Marcos, the previous selection, failed to regain fitness.

There was no place for central defender Roque Junior in the Brazil World Cup squad while Germany-based Gilberto won a spot as reserve to Roberto Carlos at left back.

Brazil are grouped with Croatia, Australia and Japan at the finals in Germany which begin on June 9.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Dida (Milan), Julio Cesar (Inter), Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo).

Defenders: Cafu (Milan), Cicinho (Real Madrid), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Juan (Bayer Leverkusen), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Cris (Lyon), Luisao (Benfica).

Midfielders: Edmilson (Barce-lona), Juninho Pernambucano (Lyon), Emerson (Juventus), Ze Roberto (Bayern Munich), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Kaka (Milan), Ricardinho (Corinthians).

Forwards: Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Robinho (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Adriano (Inter), Fred (Lyon).

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.