Srna: Luiz Adriano worthy of Brazil call-up

Shakhtar Donetsk captain Darijo Srna said Luiz Adriano is deserving of his Brazil call-up after bagging a hat-trick on Wednesday.

Luiz Adriano was called up to the Brazil squad for the first time in his career last month, included in Dunga’s 24-man squad for friendlies against Turkey (November 12) and Austria (November 18) as reward for his five-goal haul against BATE two weeks ago.

The 27-year-old celebrated his selection with yet another dominant display against the Belarusian side, netting a treble of goals as Shakhtar routed 10-man BATE 5-0 in the UEFA Champions League.

“Luiz Adriano is a very important player for Shakhtar and he has been showing that for several years now,” Srna told Shakhtar’s official website post-game.

“He has long deserved to get a Brazil cap. Now it all comes back to him.

“The team have been playing well, and he scores a lot. We have many more Brazilians who can make it to the national team in the future.”

The Ukrainian giants are second in Group H behind Portuguese leaders Porto, with eight points from four games.

BATE are five points further back and remain a mathematical chance of progressing to the knockout phase.

“In both matches, everything depended on Shakhtar. Yes, BATE tried to play differently than in Borisov. Still, Shakhtar performed well today,” Srna added.

“It was very important to score the opener. Mathematically, we have not yet made it to the second round.

“Everything is yet to come but in this situation today, it is very important for us to make it to the knockout stages for Donbas, Donetsk, Shakhtar and for our club.”