The Indian footballers were definitely under the gun in front of a star-studded Brazilian team, admitted home team head coach Khalid Jamil. Playing world.5 Brazil for the first time in their history in a FIFA friendly, India lost the game 0-4. Playing under muggy conditions at the Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata, Brazil rode on strikes from Estevao (28th), Pedro (42nd) and Samuel Lino (58th, 90+5) to secure a comfortable win.
Hosting the five-time World Champions for the first time, the likes of Real Madrid’s , Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos, Chelsea’s were greeted by a half-empty 65,000-capacity crowd.
The pricing of tickets were a big issue on the low attendance. The cheapest tickets were priced at 999 rupees ($10) – sold minutes after going on sale – while the next categories ranged between 3,500 and 25,000 rupees.
Playing with a rejigged side, Brazil had some anxious moments in the first 27 minutes. The visitors could have taken the lead through Vinicius, but a diving denied the Real Madrid star.
Estevao broke the deadlock, before Pedro and Lino also had their names on the scoresheet. “Two or three goals were very soft due to individual errors. Our concentration was lacking at times,” told reporters after the match. “But players had belief and that is why they tried to play well. They should continue like this. Mentally we have to be strong.”
“There was pressure, no doubt, on playing a champion side and we could not hide that,” Jamil added. Out of the four goals, Gurpreet, playing his 90th match for India, was at fault for the first two. But Jamil defended his goalkeeper and stated it was everybody’s fault.
“It’s not because of Gurpreet, he’s one of the finest goalkeepers of the country. The defender didn’t close down, then the ball moved from there as well. So overall, everybody’s mistake,” Jamil said.
Meanwhile, Brazil head coach admitted that the first goal made it a lot easier for them to take control of the game, but also kept a praise for the home side. “They defended, they were organised, they tried to play counter-attack. I think they played a good game,” Ancelotti said.
The Italian great felt the opening goal changed the complexion of the contest. “We had difficulty to open the score but the moment we opened the score with Estevao, we had more opportunity to control better the game,” he said. The former manager admitted there was still work to do defensively, particularly with a new-look backline.
“We defended well. We could have defended better. It was a new defence that never played together, so it could be that not everything was perfect.” The match was part of Brazil’s rebuilding phase following their pre-quarterfinal exit at the World Cup.
After drawing 1-1 with Australia and winning the return fixture 4-2, Ancelotti used the three-match window to look closely at younger players. India play Uruguay next on October 6 at the same venue.
