Before arrest, Daniel Alves said goodbye to the national team as a “positive leader”

From the controversial selection to participating in just two games, Daniel Alves was one of the most frequent subjects of the participation of the Brazilian team in the World Cup in Qatar. A month after the tournament, the player previously seen as a “positive leader” is stuck in spain.

Accused of sexual assault on a woman in a nightclub in Barcelona at the end of last year, Daniel Alves had provisional arrest without the right to bail determined on Friday (20).

The crime would have happened on December 30, 2022, when the player was on vacation in Spain after the World Cup. Daniel confirms that he was at the club on the date, but denies the accusation.

The Brazilian arrived in handcuffs at the “City of Justice”, in Barcelona, ​​this Friday morning. After giving testimony, the Spanish Public Ministry asked for his arrest and Judge Maria Concepción Canton Martín complied.

Pre-trial detention can last up to four years in Spain while the charge is investigated. The trial does not yet have a set date.

Daniel Alves is one of the most important players in the history of the national team. He participated in three editions of the World Cup (2010, 2014 and 2022 – he would have played in 2018, but was cut due to injury) and played a total of 126 games. He is, therefore, the third athlete with the most matches with Amarelinha, behind Roberto Carlos and Cafu. He was twice champion of the Confederations Cup (2009 and 2013) and Copa América (2007 and 2019) and Olympic gold medalist (2020).

The call-up of the right-back for the World Cup in Qatar was controversial. Far from his peak under contract with Pumas, from Mexico, and training with Barcelona’s B team, he reached the Cup without playing professionally for two months. Tite justified the selection by saying that it was an award for the technical, individual, physical and mental quality of the veteran. Afterwards, he was irritated when confronted with fan criticism of the call-up: “I didn’t come here to please the people who are on Twitter.”

What took Daniel Alves to the Cup at the age of 39 was, in addition to the technical part, a subjective feeling of Tite and his commission: the player’s ability to “recycle” and be open to passing on life and career experiences to younger people from what he considered an optimistic and challenging vision. Tite saw in Dani something of the “feeling” and “pride” for being in the national team that he would like to see in other athletes. According to the coach said in 2019, a “positive leader”.

Within the squad of the selection, Daniel Alves was unanimity throughout the Cup. Criticism directed at the side by journalists, influencers and fans bothered the other players, to the point that, in every public demonstration, colleagues made firm defenses. “I find it very annoying what people say about him,” said left-back Alex Telles. “If the coach brought it, it’s because we trust him”, said midfielder Casemiro. Tite said he “transcends football”. Overall, Dani was a player admired by his teammates.

Among the behind-the-scenes group leaders, the right-back would have been captain in Qatar had he been in the starting line-up. As Tite’s choice was to start the Cup with Danilo, the captain was defender Thiago Silva. Throughout the Cup, with Danilo injured, the coach preferred to improvise defender Éder Militão on the sidelines instead of adding Dani, who played in the defeat against Cameroon in the first phase in a team formed only by reserves and in the round of 16 against Korea do Sul, for less than 30 minutes.

Daniel Alves was also one of the closest players to Neymar. According to many people around the team, the right-back, defender Thiago Silva and coach Tite were the only people in that environment that the number 10 listened to, considered and respected at any time.

Daniel was the one who hugged and consoled Neymar after his elimination to Croatia in the quarterfinals.

During the World Cup, Daniel Alves captured images for the production of a documentary series about his departure from the national team. “O Último Samba” would be the second season of the series “Crazy Dream”, scheduled for release in 2023 on the Fifa+ platform. There is still no definition about the future of production.