Brazil brings Oscar and Silva back for World Cup qualifiers

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Chelsea midfielder Oscar and Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva are back in Brazil's squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers, after a long absence,

Formerly starters for Brazil, both Oscar and Silva were long overlooked by Dunga, who took over as Brazil coach after the 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinal until 2016.

Current coach Adenor Bacchi, known as Tite, continued his shake up on Friday. Bayern Munich star Douglas Costa is also back in the squad after recovering from injury.

Brazil hosts Bolivia on Oct.6 in the Northeastern coastal city of Natal and then travels to Merida to play Venezuela on Oct. 11.

After two wins against Ecuador and Colombia, Brazil is second in the South American qualifiers with 15 points from eight games, a point behind Uruguay.

Tite said his second list has more players in that are in Europe because of logistical reasons.

''This is a more balanced list than before. Now we are not disrupting the beginning of the European season,'' Tite said in a press conference at the Brazilian Confederation headquarters in Rio.

---

Brazil:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Roma), Weverton (Atletico Paranaense), Alex Muralha (Flamengo).

Defenders: Dani Alves (Juventus), Fagner (Corinthians), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Miranda (Inter Milan), Gil (Shandong Luneng), Marquinhos (Paris Saint Germain), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint Germain).

Midfielders: Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Giuliano (Zenit), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan), Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Lucas Lima (Santos), Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea).

Forwards: Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras), Neymar (Barcelona), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool).