I should have thought that a left-sided midfielder who was once a half-decent left back and who takes very poor free kicks would be the ideal replacement.

Roberto Carlos stepped off the ship before he was pushed - there was little chance of him appearing in the next World Cup, so he'd have had to have been dropped before too long.

I don't think anyone, including Cafu, expects him to continue as an international. Emerson and Gilberto Silva might have one more World Cup left in them; both are younger than Ze Roberto.