David Luiz And Ramires Back In Brazil Squad For Aug. 15 Friendly

The omission of Ramires from Brazil's pre-Olympic friendlies caused something of a stir among Chelsea fans. We know that the Blue Kenyan is pretty much the bomb, and him not getting to play for his country was more than a little bit annoying from a pride standpoint. David Luiz then getting dropped from the Olympic squad for 'technical reasons' didn't make matters any better, either.

The good news, however, was that without national team duty, both players could get ready for preseason with the club, and that we wouldn't have to worry about them getting called away to play for the Selecao when we'd rather have had them warming up for, say, Chelsea's trip to Wigan Athletic on August 19th. But wait!

Both senior Blues players (as well as new signing Oscar) have been named to the squad* for Brazil's friendly against Sweden. On August 15th. In Stockholm. So, four days before the season starts, rather than preparing for our Premier League campaign, both David Luiz and Ramires will be away in Scandinavia for a meaningless national team game after being snubbed for the Olympics. Bah.

*Apparently they forgot to put in David Luiz the first time around, causing some confusion.