Fabio Aurelio analyses the World Cup from a player's perspective and looks ahead to Liverpool's upcoming training camp in Dubai in his latest Liverpoolfc.com column.
I'll admit, it stings badly as a player when the World Cup is on and you're not there.
I'd been part of the Brazil national team set-up from U15 level right through to the Olympics. Playing in the world's biggest football event was the next step and my childhood dream. I was so close to fulfilling this aim but injury got in the way – twice.
I was called up by Carlos Alberto Parreira for the Confederations Cup in 2003 but I couldn't go due to a knee cartilage problem.