A right-back who would walk into most national teams, Alves may find himself watching most of this World Cup from the substitutes' bench due to the impressive form of Maicon.
Alves has helped to redefine the role of the right-back in recent seasons after initially impressing in Spain with Sevilla before joining Barcelona in 2008.
A member of Brazil's successful Under-20 World Cup team in 2003, Alves has yet to appear in a World Cup finals after only making his senior international debut in October 2006 against Ecuador.
The most expensive defender in history, Alves will still bring a wealth of big-time international experience to the squad despite the tournament being his World Cup debut.
He scored in the 2007 Copa America final win over Argentina, netted the winner in the semi-finals of last year's Confederations Cup before playing his part in the final success over the USA.
And though he did miss last year's UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United due to suspension, Alves was part of Barcelona's title-winning teams of the past two seasons, in addition to winning the World Club Cup, while he twice won the Uefa Cup with former club Sevilla.
