Brazil suffered a huge setback to their World Cup preparations with the news that Barcelona midfielder Edmilson has been forced to pull out of the champions’ squad after tearing the cartilage in his right knee.
In a statement the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) said: “After a meeting between the coaching staff, the team captain Cafu and Edmilson at the Thermoplan Stadium, Edmilson was told he has been removed from the Brazilian squad that will play in the World Cup on Germany.”
The decision followed an MRI scan after the player aggravated an injury during a warm-up match as Brazil complete their pre-World Cup preparations.
“He had a rupture on the lateral side of the meniscus of the right knee, it’s an injury that makes him unfit to compete,” the team doctor Jose Luis Runco said.
His place in the squad will be taken by the Sao Paulo midfielder Mineiro, 30. He has not been picked by Carlos Alberto Parreira since Romario’s farewell match against Guatemala last May.
Edmilson, 29, played in all Brazil’s games at the 2002 World Cup, with the exception of the 4-0 defeat of China in the first round.
“He said he doesn’t know exactly when the injury happened,” Runco added. “He said he had been bothered by the knee but was being able to play normally [with Barcelona].
“He was undergoing treatment and had improved, but he felt pain again during the match and we decided to do a more complete examination.”
