SANTIAGO: Profile of the Brazil team for the Copa America
Previous appearances: 33 (first in 1916)
Best performance: Winners 8 times (1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007)
Drawn in Group C with Peru, Colombia and Venezuela
Coach: Dunga
Dunga has silenced those critics who saw his appointment just weeks after Brazil were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup fiasco as a step back in time.
He had previously coached Brazil to a disappointing quarter-final exit against the Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup and was widely disliked for his belligerent attitude on and off the field.
However, he has introduced a degree of steel to a side that lacked backbone and they have won all eight of his matches in charge, including recent games against Chile and France, scoring 18 goals and conceding just two.
The coach has a perfect record in the Copa America. In 2007, he led an unfanciedBrazil team to the final against favourites Argentina and blew them away, their 3-0 win over a side containing Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Juan Roman Riquelme and Carlos Tevez was one of the highlights of his managerial career.
Key player: Neymar
Brazil will once again rely heavily on their Barcelona striker, who, even at just 23 years old, is the stand-out performer in what can sometimes be an unBrazilian team loaded with journeymen and lacking the skillful ball players of old.
Neymar has scored eight of Brazil's last 18 goals and is the fulcrum of all that is creative at national level. Mature beyond his years, he has won 62 caps in record time and happily assumes the responsibility heaped on his young shoulders.
After starting out at Santos, where he was the most exciting player since Pele led the club in their golden era of the 1960s, Neymar went to Barcelona in 2013 and has since established himself as one of the key players in that great side.
He scored 38 goals in 50 games for the Catalan team this season, his best so far, and will be playing in the Copa America for only the second time in his career.
Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Neto (Atletico Paranaense)
Defenders: David Luiz, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva (all Paris St-Germain), Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), Fabino (Monaco), Geferson (Internacional)
Midfielders: Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk), Elias (Corinthians), Casemiro (Porto), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Willian(Chelsea)
Forwards: Everton Ribeiro (Al-Ahli), Neymar (Barcelona), Firmino (Hoffenheim), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk), Diego Tardelli (Shandong), Robinho(Santos)
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