Daniel Alves, a member of the all-conquering Barcelona team, is one of the many distinguished players included in Brazil's squad of 22 players for the friendly against the Republic of Ireland at Emirates Stadium, London, on Tuesday, March 2nd.

Alves is currently recovering from a calf muscle injury that kept him out of Barcelona's Primera League match against Getafe last week-end.

The 26 years old right-back was an ever-present as Barcelona swept through last season's programme of matches by winning the six trophies they contested, including the European Champions' League and the World Super Cup.

A measure of the strength of Brazil's squad of players is the fact that Alves is not guaranteed a starting place in the team. He and Maicon of Inter Milan are competitors for the right-back position.

Brazil manager Carlos Dunga has a fascinating variety of striking players to choose from.

They include the exciting Kaka (Real Madrid), Julio Baptista (Roma), Elano (Galatasaray), Nilmar (Villarreal), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) and Adriano (Flamengo).

Dunga has also included Robinho, the Manchester City winger who is currently on loan with Santos in Brazil.

He has omitted Ronaldinho, the former Barcelona player who is now with AC Milan. The 29 years old Ronaldinho is reported to be enjoying a return to form this season after an unsettled couple of seasons in Italy but his absence from the list might suggest his involvement in the World Cup finals in South Africa is now in doubt.

This will be Brazil's last friendly match before the World Cup finals. And tickets for the match are currently on sale through the FAI.ie website.

The match will be played at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. Included in the Brazil squad are two former Arsenal players - centre-forward Julio Baptista (Roma) and midfielder Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos).

The Brazil squad v Republic of Ireland named today is:

Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (Roma), Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Lucio (Inter Milan), Juan (Roma), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), Luisao (Benfica), Michel Bastos (Lyon), Gilberto (Cruzeiro), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Felipe Melo (Juventus), Josue (Wolfsburg), Kleberson (Flamengo), Ramires (Benfica), Julio Baptista (Roma), Elano (Galatasaray), Kaka (Real Madrid), Robinho (Santos), Nilmar (Villarreal), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Adriano (Flamengo).