The 2016 memory will be fresh for Lalengmawia Ralte, also known as Apuia, when he walks out for the national anthem at the SaltLake stadium on Saturday to face mighty Brazil. Ralte came into the limelight as a 15-year-old when he was named in the starting India U-17 line-up against Brazil in the U17 BRICS Cup at the Bambolim stadium in Goa in 2016.
Despite having a star-studded line-up, Brazil, expectedly, won the game 3-1. While was India’s only goalscorer in that game, Brazil’s goals were scored by Santos, Brenner and Vinicius Junior. A decade later, Ralte remains the only member from that side in 2016 to the seniors and is set to face for the second time in Indian football history.
While Vinicius has established himself as one of the greats over the years, Ralte plied his trade with Indian Arrows, NorthEast United and Mumbai City FC before signing for Super Giant in 2024. Certainly, India head coach Khalid Jamil needed to have him in the midfield.
In 2016, as a 15-16-year-old, there aren’t much differences in the age-group competitions. But things change when they grow older as the number of matches played, makes a huge difference. In India, where the footballers play 20-25 matches across competitions at the club level in a year, the Brazilians play close to 50. The difference is clear.
For a Brazil fan like Ralte, the 2016 match against the Selecao was an eye-opener. Not only the whole team learned how they move, prepare for a game, but also got to know the discipline.
On Saturday, the challenge will be bigger for Ralte and the entire Indian team. While India are placed 138th in FIFA Rankings, Brazil are fifth in the world. But the Blue Tigers will take confidence from the 1-1 draw against 44th-ranked Panama in Bengaluru last month.
Ralte isn’t losing sleep. “Facing Brazil is a huge challenge, an exciting one, but I am not the kind of player who will change the way I prepare for a match. I will just do what I do on other match days. I have told myself, ‘Brazil is a great team, their players are better than me; all that I can do is give my best and do whatever the coach wants us to do’,” Ralte told TOI.
A huge Barcelona fan, Ralte will miss facing Raphinha, who has been released from the Brazil squad after sustaining an injury against Australia last month.
