CBF confirms Raphinha stays: "He remains with us"

Raphinha will remain with Brazil despite his red card against Japan; CBF confirms he stays in Singapore for Monday's match.

Raphinha was sent off in Brazil's 3-2 loss to Japan on Saturday after protesting to the referee from the bench, but CBF general executive director Rodrigo Caetano confirmed the Barcelona forward will stay with the squad in Singapore for the next match on Monday.

Raphinha played 71 minutes against Japan, where he had several confrontations with Japanese players before being substituted. Frustrated by earlier decisions, he was visibly upset when replaced and then received a red card from the bench, which will rule him out of Monday's fixture.

"Raphinha will remain with us, it makes no sense to release him, he is one of our leaders," Caetano said. "We'll see calmly who will represent the team in the best possible way in the next match." Raphinha apologised for the expulsion but criticised the referee's performance, saying it was difficult to play "also against the referee."