India football team captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu described the experience of playing against five-time world champions Brazil in the international friendly in Kolkata as ‘great’ for the Blue Tigers.
Brazil showed glimpses of their class in a 4-0 win over India in a rare football friendly between the two nations in Kolkata on Saturday.
India’s hosting of a senior men’s Brazil team for the first time had created buzz but a half-empty 65,000-capacity Salt Lake Stadium greeted the players.
Critics blamed the pricing of tickets for the low attendance despite Brazil’s top stars including Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and Marquinhos in the line-up. The cheapest tickets were priced at 999 rupees ($10) but they were sold minutes after going on sale, while the next categories ranged between 3,500 and 25,000 rupees.
India, ranked 138th in the world, are looking to raise the profile of the sport in a cricket-mad country of 1.4 billion people. Although the men’s teams of the two countries were playing each other for the first time, the women’s sides faced off in the Brazilian city of Manaus in 2021.
On Saturday, the Indian team exceeded expectations by putting up an impressive fight with Brazil’s fourth goal coming just before the final whistle.
“Unfortunately, when you’re playing against a good opposition like this, they punish you for your small mistakes, and I think we saw how much the boys gave of themselves, and I’m very proud of their effort, and everyone made a good account of themselves,” Indian captain Gurpreet said.
“I’m glad that we obviously didn’t sit back; we tried to play as well and make some attacks as well. I think it’s a great experience, and there’s one more game ahead of us,” he added, referring to the team’s next friendly against Uruguay on October 6.
Meanwhile, Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti said he was satisfied with how his players fared in the first tour since their last-16 exit from the World Cup in July, which ended with a 4-0 win over India on Saturday after two matches against Australia.
Ancelotti heavily rotated his squad during the three friendlies and every player in his 26-man roster got some game time. Only Vinicius Jr and Danilo started all three matches, while eight players made their international debuts.
Nearly two-thirds of Brazil’s World Cup squad missed the tour as Ancelotti launched his bid to build up the next generation of the national team.
“We’ve come out of this period feeling positive because the players performed well, although some could do better. Every player has their own character,” Ancelotti told reporters after the tour ended with two wins and a draw.
“Ultimately, we’re satisfied. It doesn’t matter what standard the matches are at, what matters to us is preparing well for them and trying to do our best, taking all the circumstances into account… I’m getting to know these players much better.”
Vanderson and Samuel Lino got their first international goals, with the latter scoring a brace against India.
“It’s been a very interesting period. I have a much clearer idea for the next squad selection,” Ancelotti said, referring to upcoming friendlies against Japan and Singapore in November.
“Obviously, we won’t be making many changes but we need to develop other young players who weren’t in the squad this time but will be next time,” he added.
Source: Khaleej Times