Jamie Carragher: 'Dante, David Luiz need to be outstanding for Brazil'

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes that Brazil defenders Dante and David Luiz can be nothing less than "outstanding" in order to help push the home nation into the World Cup final.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is expected to bring Bayern Munich's Dante into the side after FIFA rejected an appeal from Brazil to overturn captain Thiago Silva's suspension.

The Paris Saint-Germain centre-back was ruled out of tonight's semi-final against Germany after picking up a yellow card in Brazil's 2-1 victory over Colombia.

Luiz, who scored in the quarter-final last Friday, will wear the captain's armband for the clash in Belo Horizonte.

Carragher wrote in his column for the Daily Mail: "Like many Brazilians, Dante can be blase with the ball at his feet and is sometimes too casual - he can give a forward a chance, but he's no average understudy.

"He was part of a Bayern defence that conceded only 23 goals in 34 league games last season and finished with a goal difference of +71, winning the title in March.

"Brazil have got this far because of the goals from their central defenders. Dante and Luiz will need to be outstanding on Tuesday to keep up their progress."

The other semi-final between the Netherlands and Argentina will take place on Wednesday.