Brazil defender Maicon has thanked coach Luiz Felipe Scolari for selecting him ahead of Dani Alves for Friday’s World Cup quarter-final victory over Colombia in Fortaleza.
The 32-year-old was a surprise starter but played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win and will now be in line to start in the semi-final clash against Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.
"The coach trusted my work, gave me this opportunity and I hope I paid it back. But the priority here was to make it to the next round and I'm glad we did," Maicon told Fox Sports.
"It's kind of complicated, but when it comes to the national team, there's never a guaranteed spot.
"We'll wait for coach to make the decision – he will know which of us is the best option for the team on Tuesday."
Goals from Thiago Silva and David Luiz were enough to send the Selecao into the last four, although the captain will be banned from the clash with Germany after picking up a booking while there are concerns over Neymar, who had to be stretchered off.
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