Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva's wait to end his international exile continues after new Brazil coach Tite opted to leave the 31-year-old defender out of his squad for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Colombia.
Silva has been out of the picture for his country for over a year and is currently recovering from a hip injury suffered during Les Parisiens' 3-1 International Champions Cup win over Real Madrid in Columbus, Ohio last month. He missed PSG's 3-0 win over FC Metz in Ligue 1 on Sunday, but coach Unai Emery said he should be fit in time to play a role in the trip to AS Monaco this weekend before the September international break.
Even if Silva does return to action against Monaco, though, he will not return to Brazil's international setup for the first time since June 2015 until at least October, when the Selecao take on Bolivia and Venezuela.
The former AC Milan, Fluminense and FC Porto man's most recent appearance for Brazil came in a 1-1 draw with Paraguay in the 2015 edition of the Copa America in Concepcion, Chile. Dunga's underperforming side were eventually eliminated 4-3 on penalties after a clumsy Silva handball gifted Paraguay the 72nd-minute penalty that got them back into the encounter.
Silva and the ex-Brazil coach endured a fractious relationship during the former 1994 World Cup-winning captain's ill-fated second spell in charge, which included Silva being stripped of the captaincy in favour of Neymar -- who has now relinquished the role after Olympic success.
Since then, Silva enjoyed arguably the finest season of his career at Parc des Princes last campaign and there were plenty of calls for him to be reinstated by Dunga in the buildup to the Copa America Centenario in the U.S. this summer. Those calls were unsuccessful, but with Dunga now out of the picture, Silva looks almost certain to make his return under new boss Tite -- just not yet.
"O Monstro" Silva was heavily criticised for his leadership of the Selecao at the ill-fated 2014 World Cup on home soil and that scrutiny was amplified by his handball, which gifted Paraguay their equaliser and contributed towards Brazil's 2015 Copa America quarterfinal exit.
To add insult to injury, the Ligue 1 champions then blocked him from representing his country at this summer's Olympic Games and only allowed Marquinhos to go -- possibly in a move to secure the latter's long-term future in Paris. Before that, though, Silva bounced back from two consecutive summers of international agony with a term that justified his beastly nickname.
As PSG secured a second consecutive domestic clean sweep, the man from Rio de Janeiro -- along with the talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- was instrumental in that continued domestic dominance. Les Parisiens fell short in the UEFA Champions League, but that was hardly Silva's fault. The French giants underperformed over both quarterfinal legs against Manchester City, particularly in attack, while Laurent Blanc's tactical meltdown helped to sink the team in the second leg.
Despite that setback, it could not take the shine off the Brazilian's best season to date in France. The fact that he was named in L'Equipe's team of the week 15 times from 30 Ligue 1 appearances speaks for itself.
The key to Silva's impressive recovery from his international heartbreak was that he remained relatively injury-free for the duration of the season and that PSG even decided to rest him ahead of some big matches when they could afford to.
At the start of the 2014-15 term, Silva was injured in a friendly clash with SSC Napoli that was bizarrely timed after the start of the league season. Having already seen his preseason decimated by World Cup involvement, he was absent for 10 games following an opening 2-2 draw away at Stade de Reims. Silva needed a lengthy period before he returned to a good level of fitness and, subsequently, form. The worry this summer is that the hip injury suffered against Real in the U.S. will prevent him from immediately rediscovering last campaign's superb form.
Blanc is no longer in charge of PSG and Emery is the new boss at Parc des Princes. Although Silva's position as an undisputed starting central defender and captain is not under threat, he has already lost time on the pitch to adapt to Emery's new approach.
Instead of looking forlornly at teammate Marquinhos' recent success and another international call-up, Silva needs to get back on the pitch and rediscover last campaign's form as quickly as possible.