Brazil friendly: A surreal evening but half-empty stadium greet the Selecao

It’s an evening which one would live to tell the story to future generations. The match-up of Brazil, purveyors of the ‘beautiful game’ and India was nothing less than a surreal moment at the Salt Lake Stadium, though it was a pity that the high ticket prices certainly came in the way of having a full house at the amphitheatre like venue.

 The crowd, which swelled to around 40,000-plus midway in the first half, was at hand to watch the last of the Samba Boys’ three matches in their first road tour after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The 4-0 scoreline in favour of Brazil was a foregone conclusion alright, though one must say the Blue Tigers didn’t look out of place at all in what was the greatest mis-match in their football history.

 The squad line-up made it clear as to what Carlos Ancelotti, the guru of coaches, was expecting from the game. Despite both Ancelotti and skipper Marquinhos insisting that they were treating the India match in all seriousness and had analysed India’s gutsy draw against Panama, he fielded only three players from the starting XI of their last match against Socceroos which Brazil won 4-2.

Apart from Marquinhos, Vinicius jr – whose name drew the loudest cheers when the squads were being announced and midfielder Danilo started the evening. The five-time world champions were caught a little offguard by the spirited hosts, especially in the first 15 minutes, during which they forced two corners and even had a close look at the Brazil goal.

 Wearing their famous canary yellow shirt, the Brazilian forays looked initially too Vinicius-centric on the left. The Real Madrid winger, much to the delight of the crowd, launched a number of those mazy runs and had his shot from close range once thwarted by India’s seasoned goalkeeper and captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Ironically, it was Sandhu who was found wanting when Estevao struck the first of their goals in a piece of sheer brilliance.

  The five-time world champions added a second one through Pedro and looked more self assured after crossing over with a two-goal cushion at halftime. The intensity of first half gave way in the second as both teams ushered in substitutions dime and dozen – with an agreement at the managers’ meeting on Friday that a maximum of 11 substitutions be allowed for the friendly.

 Vinicius jr was predictably replaced at the breather with reports doing the rounds that he would be flying back for his club Real Madrid’s call tonight itself, but substitute Samuel Lindo rose to the occasion by slamming in the last two goals for his team. While Ancelotti made it clear before the match that he wanted to test out as many youngsters as possible against their lowest ranked opponent in 28 years, Indian coach Khalid Jamil purposefully give some game time to most of his boys in what was a lifetime opportunity for them.

For most of the last two months since last the India-Brazil friendly was announced, the talk centred around the futility of the exercise given the Selecao’s place in global football hierarchy and the cost involved. The debate may only get intense after this evening’s result but even the most cynical of Indian football fans will have to admit that they have had their moments in the match.

The performance of this evening may only buoy the 138th ranked side in their final friendly against Uruguay, another Latin American superpower, on Tuesday (6th October).