India showed fleeting moments of brilliance and enterprise, particularly in the opening minutes, but ultimately fell 0-4 to Brazil’s class in a lively FIFA international friendly at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Saturday night.
Samuel Lino struck a brace, while Estevao and Pedro scored one apiece for the Samba magicians, who led 2-0 at the halfway stage before 51,000-plus spectators, including some who had travelled
all the way from Kazakhstan, France and Spain.
The hosts, however, showed a lot of verve and managed to hold their mighty opponents goalless till the 27th minute, earning repeated applause from the crowd. Coming after the impressive 1-1 draw against Panama, the Indian defenders and midfielders went for gutsy tackles and brave challenges to thwart the attacks of the five-time World Cup winners.
Upfront, the Indians tried to play their familiar game of getting the ball quickly into the wide areas and then attacking from there.
However, there were also occasions when the hosts seemed overawed by the weight of their opponents. Veteran goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, turning out in his 90th international game, seemed
a bundle of nerves. Gurpreet was partly to blame for the two goals he conceded, only a day after Brazilian skipper Marquinhos had saluted his experience.
But it was Brazil who dominated the proceedings from the outset, as the dangerous Vinicius Junior, who led the attacks from the left wing, let go a dangerous low cross in the first minute, but Anirudh Thapa was quick to clear the ball.
At the other end, the Indians earned two corners in quick succession, but both proved fruitless. In
the eighth minute, Vinicius again darted in from the left, but his effort was punched by Gurpreet for a corner.
Brazil finally took the lead in the 28th minute, when Chelsea forward Pedro moved into the box from the right and unleashed a left footer, which went into the back of the net after deflecting off Gurpreet’s gloves.
The goal seemed to dry out the Indian players’ drive, and Brazil doubled the lead in the 42nd minute through Pedro, who latched on to a through from Estevao and the grounder rechociated into the net off Gurpreet’s right glo
Crossing over, India got a close look at the opponent goal, but Manvir Singh’s shot was palmed away for a corner by the Brazil goalkeeper Pedro Morisco.
Indian forward Ryan Williams then drove into the Brazilian box, but failed to beat the custodian.
The score became 3-0 in the 58th minute as Lino, who came in for Vinicius at the start of the second half, exploited a sloppy defending by Bijoy Varghese, snatched the ball, and curled it past a diving substitute goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill.
The hosts came closest to scoring in the 64th minute, as Williams ran down the left, got past a defender, moved into the box, and tried to put the ball past the goalkeeper, but substitute Mauro Junior saved off the line.
A desperate Indian coach Khalid Jamil made five simultaneous changes in the 83rd minute, but it was of no avail. Lino put the final nail in the Indian coffin in injury time with a
power-packed shot that gave no chance to Prabhsukhan.
While the final result could suggest one-way traffic, the Indians take home not only the memories of of playing the Selecao, but also having tested them on occasions, despite the huge gulf between the two sides in terms of FIFA rankings and pedigree.