Edmilson out for Samba stars
Barcelona's Edmilson has been withdrawn from the Brazil squad due to injury.
Barcelona midfielder Edmilson has been withdrawn from Brazil's squad for two upcoming friendly clashes after suffering a knock to his knee.The former Lyon star, who missed the World Cup after sustaining knee ligament damage, had been scheduled to appear for Dunga's side in friendly games against Kuwait and Ecuador in the coming week.
However, after suffering a swollen knee in training with the Catalans, Barca have decided in conjunction with the five-time World Champions that the holding midfielder will remain in Spain.
Sao Paulo's Mineiro has been called up in Edmilson's place for the away trip to Kuwait on Saturday and the all-South American clash with Ecuador in Sweden three days later.
Edmilson started in Saturday's 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, but after suffering a knock Barca's medical staff have confirmed he will not be joining up with his international colleagues.
"FC Barcelona player Jose Edmílson has a swollen right knee and will not be joining the Brazilian national team on Thursday October 5," read a statement on the club's official website.
"The medical services and the Brazilian confederation have decided that it is better for the player to stay in Barcelona and keep working on strengthening his knee by taking advantage of the weekend without league football."
Meanwhile, Barca have extended their global network by announcing a partnership with Argentinian club Arsenal de Sarandi.
The arrangement, which sees the European champions invest ‚é¼300,000 (£202,000), will establish links in South America and see the Catalans oversee the youth structure at the Buenos Aires outfit.
"This is the first project of this kind that Barcelona has in South America and it could be extended to other countries," explained Barca president Joan Laporta.
"The Argentinian football school is a really powerful school so we have signed an agreement in which Barcelona will invest in the club and we will share the players that this club releases from their youth divisions."
As part of their expansion into South America, Barca will also set up a school near the birthplace of Los Cules starlet Lionel Messi, continuing their commitment to worthy causes after allowing the Unicef logo to decorate their famous shirts.
"I am also honoured to announce that we are going to create a football school in Arroyo Seco, a city that is very near to where Lionel Messi was born and I am very proud that we can do something so important near the place Messi was born," Laporta added.
"The best thing that we can do is invest in young people for helping to have a better and more healthy society."
