Neymar says he wants Olympic berth

Barcelona forward Neymar has expressed his wish to represent Brazil at the Rio Olympics in August, national team coordinator Gilmar Rinaldi said on Monday.

It is understood the Catalan giants are loath to release the 23-year-old for the quadrennial tournament, which will come less than six weeks after the centenary edition of the Copa America in the United States.

"Neymar wants to play," Rinaldi was quoted as saying by the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

"We have said that we want to work with the clubs to talk about how the players are physically and technically. We still haven't made any requests to the clubs."

Under Olympic rules, competing teams may include up to three players over the age of 23 in their squads.

It is understood Brazil hopes to select Neymar, Willian (Chelsea) and Miranda (Inter Milan).

The Olympic football tournament will be played from August 4 to 20.

Meanwhile, Rinaldi refused to comment on the omission of Real Madrid defender Marcelo for Brazil's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Paraguay.

Brazil coach Dunga earlier this month said he had left out Marcelo after discussing the 27-year-old's fitness with Real Madrid staff.

The statement raised eyebrows when the left-back played 90 minutes in Real Madrid's Champions League victory over Roma last week.

The Spanish club's manager Zinedine Zidane added fuel to the controversy when he told reporters on Saturday that he was not consulted about Marcelo's fitness, adding that Dunga's comments were "a lie".

"I'm not going to talk about Zidane," Rinaldi said. "We are thinking about the Olympics, which is something else. We consider everything when we select the team." Endit