San Francisco Frontiers - Indian football fans relish rare friendly against Brazil

The match at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium will see the hosts, ranked 138th, take on the five-time world champions, who boast global stars like Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.

The first such visit by the Selecao has generated a lot of excitement in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, where football enjoys a passionate following.

"This is such a football match that every player wants to play, and I think playing against Brazil for India is historic," All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey told local media.

India, a country of 1.4 billion people, have never qualified for a World Cup and trail the football elite by a considerable margin in terms of quality.

But officials hope the high-profile fixture can help attract new followers.

"Football fans have shown a lot of excitement about the match," Chaubey said.

"I would want that through this match, the football-loving people of India benefit and they come forward and connect more with football."

Brazil are off the back of a win and a draw in a friendly double-header in Australia, and are looking to rebuild following their shock exit to Norway at the World Cup in July.

The South Americans, ranked fifth, have not won the sport's premier international competition since 2002, a barren run that has provoked soul-searching in a country used to such success.

Although the men's teams have never played each other, the women's sides faced off in the Brazilian city of Manaus in 2021.

And Kolkata, a sprawling city in eastern India, got a taste of the big time when Brazilian legend Pele visited in 1977 and 2015.

- 'Testing waters' -

Aside from Vinicius, Brazil's squad also features Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos, Barcelona attacker Raphinha and Arsenal duo Gabriel Magalhaes and Bruno Guimaraes.

For India, the clash represents a rare opportunity to test themselves against one of football's traditional powerhouses.

"It is an extremely important match for us," said forward Rahim Ali, who plays for Odisha in the Indian Super League.

"We are playing such a big team, it will be a very tough match, but once we step onto the field it's an 11-versus-11 game."

Fan Raj Kahar told AFP that he was "excited" at the prospect of seeing Brazil's stars in person.

"These matches are all about testing waters, whether we can match teams like Brazil or not," he said.

"This will give us a sense of whether in future we can make it to the World Cup or not. So this is a good opportunity."

Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti has warned against treating the contest as an exhibition, insisting there is "never a friendly game" for a team in a period of transition.

India head into the match following a 1-1 draw with 46th-ranked Panama in Bengaluru last week. They will also face Uruguay in Kolkata on October 6.

Saturday's game has drawn some criticism after the AIFF withdrew India from the ASEAN Cup to prioritise the match against Brazil.

Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia said the money spent on hosting Brazil could have been better used on grassroots sport and athlete development.

"If the Bengal government is going to pay or try and raise money for this match, please raise it for Bengal to have the next few gold medals in the Commonwealth Games," Bhutia said.

"We are trying to bring the Olympics here (to India). Try and have Olympians from Bengal winning medals there," he said.

"Don't waste it for one 90-minute match."

V.Mitchell--SFF