As the Brazilian footballers walked onto the Salt Lake Stadium turf, the eyes of a platoon of media personnel searched for one man.
“Where is Vinicius?”
Brazil captain Marquinhos had just trudged in, touched the newly improved pitch and made the sign of the cross. Others were also limbering up. But where is Vinicius?
A couple of minutes later, the Real Madrid star, now searching for the form that made him so dangerous on the flanks, came in with clubmate Endrick and Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes. “Here he is,” everyone said in unison.
This is his second visit to India after the 2016 Brics Cup in Goa where a 16-year-old precocious talent gave a glimpse of what’s in store.
“They are good memories. I came to India as a kid, and I’m happy to be back here,” he said in an interview with CBF TV.
With no Raphinha – he is back in Barcelona after picking up an injury against Australia last Tuesday – all eyes are now on Vinicius, the only superstar attacker.
Vinicius is enduring a difficult run of form in Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team, even though coach Carlo Ancelotti backed his superstar after the 4-2 win over Australia in Brisbane on September 29. Vinicius had scored one from a penalty.
India may not be an ideal team to test his real strength, but that is not something Ancelotti is worried about. “For the squad and all the players, it’s not a test or an opportunity to prove themselves,” the Italian, now 67, said.
Brazil are in a transition phase, with the focus now on the 2028 Copa America and the 2030 World Cup.
The Asian tour, where Brazil played a couple of games against Australia – they drew the first one on September 25 thanks to a late equaliser from Bournemouth forward Rayan – is the first step in the rebuilding process.
“It’s a pleasure to work with all the new members. Not only them, but the whole squad. It has been a great moment, bringing them together, creating synergy and feeling the energy in the squad,” Ancelotti said at the news conference on Friday.
“It’s true that we were not able to compete enough in the World Cup. It was a difficult period for us. It is motivation for a new generation of players to be able to compete at the highest level in the coming years,” Ancelotti added.
Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002 and bowed out of the 2026 edition with a 2-1 loss to Norway. It was the first time in 36 years that the five-time world champions have bowed out in the round of 16. “There was big talent in 2002. It’s more about teamwork now,” Ancelotti said.
No charity
There was a lot of surprise when it was announced that India, ranked 138th in the Fifa charts, will play a high-profile team like Brazil.
The Brazilians feel it’s a sort of saying thank you to India.
There are a lot of Brazilian fans in India and Bangladesh and football is a popular sport in this part of the world. So why can’t Brazil come and play for their supporters?
That’s true. If they can play against Singapore (ranked 148) in November, an international friendly against India should not raise eyebrows.
“We have respect for the quality of the Indian team. They played a good draw against Panama. We have full respect for our opponents,” Ancelotti was to the point.
One of the main reasons why top Latin American teams like Brazil and Argentina are lining up opponents ranked much lower than them during the Fifa international windows is because top European nations remain busy playing the Nations League.