Sam Mewis Questions Debinha’s Exclusion from Brazil’s Paris Olympic Squad, Cites Marta and Other Veterans’ Presence

The land of Jogo Bonito, the beautiful game, is yet to stamp its authority in women’s international soccer. Yes, we are talking about Brazil. While their men’s team holds the record for winning 5 FIFA World Cups, they kept falling short of winning major international tournaments including the World Cup, and will look to change the track record in the 2024 Olympics. But the team will be without one of their finest talents in the last decade, Debinha. With teams like USWNT and Spain going into the tournament as favorites, the exclusion of the Kansas City Current striker has raised a few eyebrows. Former USA midfielder Sam Mewis also brought the active legend Marta and ‘other veterans’ into the equation to make her point clear for the Canarinhas.

Speaking on the Women’s Game podcast, Mewis still wants Debinha to enter the Olympic squad despite being dropped. She stated, “I think it’s so absurd to not include Debinha. I feel like I’m missing something.” being shocked that one of the best players in the world for the last 6 years had missed out. She further said, “I can’t really make sense of it by saying that the coach wanted to include more younger players to prepare for maybe the 2027 World Cup being in Brazil because there are plenty of veterans in the rosters,” and pointed out that she cannot find any pattern or reason for the coach’s decision.

Meanwhile, the coaches picked Marta, potentially one of the greatest players in the world, over Debinha, and this will be her last major tournament with the national team. In addition, veteran defenders like Rafaelle and Tamires were also included adding to Mewis’s confusion. But with a hopeful call, she concluded by saying, “So I actually truly feel like I’m missing something here with this decision and I wish for all of our sake that we would see Debinha at the Olympics.” However, Debinha wasn’t even included in the list of alternatives. But what made Arthur Elias take such a bold step?

Is Debinha’s exclusion from the 2024 Olympic Games justified?

While the stats of the 32-year-old are impressive, coach Elias did not reveal a reason for the forward’s exclusion. Regardless, in the press conference, he reportedly stated that he aimed for a mixture of experience and youth in his squad as a general approach. On the other hand, certain talks suggested that he preferred players who play club soccer in Brazil. However, there were quite a few players from the NWSL in the team which also makes such a discussion weak.

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old has already made a name for herself in senior soccer. Scoring 49 goals in 124 matches for Brazil, she won the Copa America twice. In addition, she also has 13 goals in 35 games for Kansas City, with 47 goals for North Carolina Courage. Hence, fans and Mewis are surprised that the star will not compete in the Olympics. But can Brazil do well despite such a bold call? Was the decision of the coach correct? Let us know in the comments.