PSG Captain Marquinhos Not Called up to Brazil National Team

Despite a difficult start to the season for PSG, it has been a productive few weeks for the skipper Marquinhos. 

The 32-year old has already scored twice, once against Lille and once against Monaco, though neither could yield a win for Luis Enrique's side. Before that, he was awarded the UEFA Fair Play award, for his act of sportsmanship towards Arsenal defender Gabriel after the UEFA Champions League final. 

However, this positive individual start to the season has not done enough for him to be given a place in the Brazil national team squad for their upcoming friendlies with Australia (twice) and India. 

Indeed not, as former PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti has perhaps controversially left the defender out. This has lead to plenty of debate; is he simply giving the defender some rest, or is he taking the team into a new era? 

We have seen another former PSG man in Neymar retire from the national team, and Ancelotti said after the World Cup that the likes of Casemiro would not be a part of the new cycle, so could Marquinhos be included in that too? 

This would feel harsh, considering he was the captain during the FIFA World Cup over the summer. The central defender is currently on 110 caps for the Selecao, which puts him fifth in the all time leaderboard, behind; Cafu, Neymar, Dani Alves, Roberto Carlos, and fellow PSG legend, Thiago Silva. 

He is not the only player from Enrique's squad to be left out of the squad, with Lucas Beraldo also once again overlooked, despite some impressive performances as a defensive midfielder in Ligue 1 last season. With Casemiro now out of the picture, some thought he may have got the call up. 

Nevertheless, this cannot be a bad thing for PSG. We saw Marquinhos miss a number of games last season, and this break should be able to make him more likely to be available, with there now being a three week international break between September and October. That gives him plenty of time to rest and recover between games. 

The team's last game before the break will be away to Marseille in Le Classique on the 20th of September, and the first game afterwards will be at home to newly promoted side Le Mans on the 10th October, three days before a big clash with Manchester City in the Champions League. It will be important to have the skipper available for those games.