Ronaldo, Neymar, Ronaldinho: Brazil's greatest XI of the 21st century

The amount of legendary footballing figures to hail from Brazil is almost scary.

From Pele to Neymar, the South American nation have never been short of quality and it’s why they’re the most successful team in World Cup history.

Brazil have triumphed in the tournament a record five times – the most recent in 2002 – and are the favourites to win the 2022 edition out in Qatar later this year due to their ridiculous squad depth, something we highlighted HERE.

So, with Brazil being the international side a lot of football fans are talking about right now, we’ve decided to get a bit creative and have named what we feel is the nation’s best XI from the 21st century.

That means the likes of Pele, Jairzinho, Zico and Socrates don’t feature – sorry to those of you craving sweet nostalgia.

Let’s take a look at our XI, which we know a lot of people won’t agree with…

Dida may have been the man between the sticks during Brazil’s 2002 World Cup triumph, but Alisson is the superior goalkeeper in our opinion. The fact the Liverpool man and 2019 Copa America winner has kept the hugely-talented Ederson out of the international side for the most part says it all really.

This was a tough one, given Cafu’s magnificence with both Brazil and at club level. We went with Alves in the end, though, a man who’s hoarded trophies, revolutionised the full-back role and has 197 assists to his name – 105 of them in a Barcelona jersey.

One of the most underrated centre-backs in modern times. Lucio was a colossus in a Brazil shirt and thrived at a number of top European clubs, including Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. He was a crucial figure in the latter’s treble-winning 2009/10 season.

Silva’s longevity is quite extraordinary. At the age of 38, he’s