Dida says no to Brazil jersey

Sao Paulo: Brazil goalkeeper Dida has asked to be excused from the national team.

"He contacted us and said it wasn't in his plans to play for the Brazilian national team now," Brazil coach Dunga said on Sunday in an interview with Globo TV.

Dida, who turned 33 on Sunday, was one of the few players not criticised after Brazil's disappointing World Cup campaign in Germany earlier this year. With him as a starter, Brazil fell to eventual runner-up France in the quarter-finals.

"He has his motives, but we don't want someone who doesn't take pleasure in playing for the national team," Dunga said. "Besides the body, we want the soul, the heart and the mind."

Dida will miss Brazil's friendlies against Kuwait on Saturday and Ecuador on October 10. He also wasn't present when Brazil played Norway, Argentina and Wales.

Dunga, Brazil's captain when it won the 1994 World Cup in the United States, was hired to replace Carlos Alberto Parreira after the tournament in Germany.

He has been revamping the Brazilian team, calling up mostly young players. PSV Eindhoven's Gomes, FC Porto's Helton and Cruzeiro's Fabio were the goalkeepers summoned by the coach since he took over.