TheCable

Star forward Neymar will captain Brazil in their friendly against Colombia on Friday and new manager Dunga confirmed the shift would be permanent.

Thiago Silva, who was captain under previous coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, is absent from the squad and will not feature in the round of friendlies the Selecao will be involved in.

Neymar, at 22, will become one of Brazil’s youngest captains ever, but Dunga insisted that he has all the skills to make him the perfect for the role.

“It has already been decided [Neymar is captain],” Dunga told a press conference at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami.

“Neymar has responded very well to it. He is a player who likes challenges and likes to win. We talked to him when we first broached the subject and we told him what we wanted.

“He’s a player with a lot of quality; despite his age, [he] is experienced. The captain has to set the standard for the others. We told him about the advantages and the disadvantages, about the history and responsibility the shirt brings.

“Every time Brazil won a World Cup, it did so with leaders who had great personality. We need more players with this characteristic in the group, whether they wear the armband or not.”

Neymar is one of the biggest names in football and arguably the best talent to emerge from Brazil in the past decade.

He has been in the spotlight since his teens and finally completed the move to a European top team in 2013 when he joined Barcelona.

He was in sensational form at the 2014 World Cup, but was forced out of the tournament by a back injury he suffered against Friday’s opponent, Colombia.

He missed the semi-final clash with Germany where the Selecao were embarrassed by the eventual world champions.

Fans will get their first glimpse of the new Brazil captain on Friday and immediately find out whether or not Neymar is up to the task.