Dani Alves relaxing in Miami Beach during pre-season break

It’s been a summer to forget for Dani Alves, but the Brazilian footballer appeared to be making the most of it during a pre-season break in Miami on Sunday.

The Barcelona right-back is enjoying a sunshine break as he attempts to put some perspective on a sobering World Cup in his home country, during which he picked up an injury that saw him benched during Brazil’s 7-1 mauling at the hands of Germany.

Hitting the beach with a group of pals, 31-year-old Alves looked relaxed as he peeled off his shirt – thus revealing an impressive array of tattoos on his upper-body as he reclined on a lounger.

Sporting a pair of garish tropical print shorts, bright baseball cap and blue Beats headphones, the moody defender’s colourful appearance didn’t reflect his sombre mood during the outing – which was cut short by the onset of rain.

Making his way back to his hotel, Alves attempted to keep himself dry by covering his head with a white beach towel.

The footballer is no doubt reflecting on Brazil’s embarrassing performance in their World Cup semi-final against Germany, the tournament’s eventual winners.

Speaking on Instagram shortly after the debacle, Alves – who was ruled out due to an injury sustained earlier in the tournament – rounded on critics of the host nation, branding them ‘a**holes.’

‘I know a lot of a**holes will make fun. I know a lot of losers in the biggest game in the world, which is the book of life, will rejoice,’ he wrote.

‘I want to take this hard moment for all of us who chose football as a profession and who were chosen to represent our country in this World Cup.

‘I would say that, for me to share with you all this time, was an unmatched pleasure.

‘But I would like to say publicly that you are f***ing champions. I am privileged to be part of this group, you are champions, which all these a**holes will never be.’

He added: ‘Today you are not respected here but in the rest of the world I'm sure you are. Bad days like this teach us to appreciate the good days.’

The footballer, who has amassed 79 caps for his country, will soon return to Spain for training with Catalan giants Barcelona ahead of the new season.

The club’s pre-season list of friendlies include away games against Recreativo Huelva, Nice, Napoli and HJK Helsinki before they return to Camp Nou for one final match against Leon on August 18.

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