Gre-Nal begins with 23 foreign players as rivals chase Copa do Brasil semi-final spot | OneFootball

The Gre-Nal rivalry writes a new chapter on Thursday at 20:00 at Beira-Rio, as Inter and Grêmio begin their fight for a Copa do Brasil semi-final place. This edition is marked by multinational squads, with a combined 23 foreign players across 14 nationalities.

According to Globo.com, the clubs draw from four continents, America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Argentina supplies seven players, with Colombia and Paraguay next on three each. Both benches are also led by foreigners, Grêmio under Portuguese Luís Castro and Inter coached by Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano.

Grêmio should start at least five imports. They include midfielders Noriega of Peru and Villasanti of Paraguay, midfielder Krovinovic of Croatia, plus forwards Amuzu of Belgium and Pavon of Argentina.

Inter are expected to begin with centre-backs Mercado of Argentina and Maripán of Chile, midfielder Villagra of Argentina and wingers Bernabei of Argentina and Carbonero of Colombia.

CBF rules cap matchday squads at nine foreign players. For Grêmio, Argentine midfielder Nardoni is injured, Colombian midfielder Monsalve is out of the plans and Paraguayan defender Balbuena is not expected to feature.

For Inter, Uruguayan goalkeeper Rochet is recovering from spine surgery and will also miss out. Ghanaian midfielder Benjamin Arhin is available, yet Pezzolano has not been naming him.

Only one Rio Grande do Sul native looks likely to play, Grêmio forward Tetê from Alvorada. On the Inter side, goalkeeper Anthoni, born in Canela, is back-up to current first-choice Matheus Cunha.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”