I haven’t slept thinking about Argentina – Tite to name Brazil squad on Friday

At 11am from CBF headquarters, the Selecao boss will announce his 23-man squad to face Argentina and Peru in November’s World Cup qualifiers

On Friday, Brazil coach Tite will name his 23-man squad for November’s World Cup qualifying double-header against Argentina and Peru.

The five-time world champions host Argentina at the Mineirao in Belo Horizonte on November 10 before travelling to the Estadio Nacional in Lima on November 15.

The Selecao top South America’s 10-team qualifying group for Russia 2018 after new boss Tite got their campaign back on track by kicking off his tenure with four consecutive victories.

Few new faces were expected to be named in a winning squad but Tite’s insistence that he is reluctant to disrupt the Brazilian league campaign has led to speculation there may well be some new arrivals.

Tite said this week that he will take the schedule of the local league championship into consideration when selecting his squad.

A packed calendar in Brazil means the league cannot stop for international breaks and former Corinthians coach Tite says he will try not to disadvantage any teams by taking too many players away from their clubs.

“I will always consider [the Brasileirao], professionally and humanely,” he said. “I will show good sense, but I will not harm the national team.”

Tite went on to say he is already having some sleepless nights ahead of his biggest night as Brazil coach so far, when Lionel Messi’s Argentina come to town.

“I haven’t slept worrying about the match against Argentina,” Tite said. “Against them, it is a championship match. The game has even more weight because it is a clasico.

“We are not going to run away. For us, the most important thing is to consolidate the current level of performance of our team because we have been getting good results over and above any consistency.”