Kaka included in Brazil squad

Brazil manager Dunga has named a 24-man squad for next month's friendlies against Costa Rica and the United States, with Kaka in line to make his first appearance since October last year.

The Orlando City playmaker was left out of the Copa America squad, but has a chance to add to his 89 caps when the Selecao play the two friendlies in the USA.

Also returning to the international scene are Hulk and Lucas Moura, who have been called up for the first time since Dunga took over for his second spell in charge following the 2014 World Cup.

Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho has been somewhat surprisingly omitted, while Danilo, Oscar and Luiz Gustavo all come back in after missing the Copa America with injury.

Three men – Alisson, Douglas Santos and Lucas Lima – are in line to make their Brazil debuts and talisman Neymar is included despite facing a suspension for the first two World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela in October.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Alisson (Internacional), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Jefferson (Botafogo)

Defenders: Dani Alves (Barcelona), Danilo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), David Luiz (Paris Saint-Germain), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Miranda (Inter), Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal), Douglas Santos (Atletico Mineiro)

Midfielders: Elias (Corinthians), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Kaka (Orlando City), Lucas Lima (Santos), Oscar (Chelsea), Ramires (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea)

Forwards: Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Hulk (Zenit), Lucas Moura (Paris Saint-Germain), Neymar (Barcelona)

Pele: ´Impossible´ for Neymar to replace me

Pele believes his status as Brazil's greatest player is secure, with not even Neymar able to challenge him.

A three-time World Cup winner and the scorer of more than 1,000 goals in a glittering career, the former Santos and New York Cosmos striker has already seen off plenty of challengers to his mantle since retiring, including Ronaldo and Romario, who earlier this month backed Neymar to surpass Pele's tally of 77 international goals.

Whether or not the 23-year-old Barcelona forward is able to do so remains to be seen, but Pele is not worried about the challenge of his fellow Santos graduate.

Asked on Wednesday in Melbourne if Neymar can replace him as Brazilian football's favourite son, he said: "I think not."

"I think to be the new king, the new Pele, is impossible. Because my mother and my father closed the machine. I think he's a good player, an excellent young player and he's going to be a big star, no doubt."

While Neymar is Brazil's great hope, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - playing at a higher tempo than ever before - have proven worthy challengers to the all-time greats in recent years.

But Pele insisted he would still have been a force of nature in the modern game.

"If you ask, would Beethoven be important now? Of course," he said.

"If I was in this moment and prepared to play in this moment. The thing people forget is I was given a gift to play football, this is something no-one can judge."

Appearing in Australia for a series of speaking engagements, Pele - in his capacity as the unofficial ambassador of Brazilian football - could not avoid inevitable questions about his country's shock 7-1 loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-final on home soil last year.

Watching on while the hopes of a nation were shattered, what was he thinking as goal after goal flew in during that nightmare game in Belo Horizonte?

"I didn't think - I cried," he said.

"It's unfortunate that the two World Cups played in Brazil, in 1950 when I was nine years old, we lost. And now we lost again. This is something no-one can explain."

The Brazilian Football Confederation's response to the debacle was to hand Dunga - who coached the South American nation at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa - a return to the national team hot seat following Luiz Felipe Scolari's departure.

Captain of the team that won the tournament for a fourth time in the United States in 1994, the 51-year-old was not a universally popular choice, but he at least has the support of an illustrious predecessor.

"I think with Dunga ... (he) has a different style to Felipe (Scolari), more defensive but I believe in Dunga," Pele said.

"He could make a good national team."

Quizzed on whether or not Brazil can win a sixth World Cup in Russia in 2018, Pele said: "I hope so."