Thiago Silva 'sad' at Ibrahimovic's World Cup absence

Brazil captain Thiago Silva has expressed his disappointment that Paris Saint-Germain teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden will not feature at next year's World Cup.

Ibrahimovic captained the Swedish side which last month lost 2-4 on aggregate to Portugal in their World Cup qualifying playoff, reports Xinhua.

According to Silva, who joined the French Ligue 1 outfit with Ibrahimovic from AC Milan in July 2012, the tournament will be poorer due to his colleague's absence.

"It is a big disappointment that he won't be at the World Cup," Silva told Brazilian daily O Globo Thursday.

"I was particularly sad about it and I told him that. I was supporting him the entire time (during the European qualifiers).

Silva also revealed his respect for four-time Ballon D'Or winner Lionel Messi, who he hopes to play against during the World Cup.

"He is the player I most like to play against," the 29-year-old said. "He is the best in the world and I always like to test myself against the best.

"When I play against the top players I manage to lift my game to another level, especially against Messi."