Ryan Williams: Inked in tiger stripes, striker gears up for India vs Brazil test

The Bengaluru FC forward returns to Kolkata and the Salt Lake Stadium after nearly six months. He had scored against East Bengal in front of a partisan crowd in April. He will be on the other side of the spectrum this time, even if against mighty Brazil.  | Photo Credit: AIFF

Tattoos are often intimate autobiographies; indelible renders of dates, emotions and life-altering decisions. Ryan Dale Williams, the Indian striker making waves after switching his nationality, carries a veritable gallery of them.

There’s a bird etched on his right hand, the year of his birth on the left, and even a smoking man adorning his leg. So, when he became eligible to don the Indian jersey, he could scarcely resist commissioning something to enshrine the moment.

“It’s funny that you ask that because I actually got quite a large tiger, not so long ago, obviously, to represent the Blue Tigers,” he tells Sportstar.

“I haven’t got the date or anything, but it’s only on me. Nobody can see it because it’s on me.”

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Williams burst into the Indian national football team when the country looked in dire need of a younger – its conventional No. 9, Sunil Chhetri, was 41 – and more clinical striker. Despite casting around for options like Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali and Irfan Yadwad, the wait ended with the Bengaluru FC striker finally getting the Indian passport last year.

“The lead-up and the build-up to me finally getting my passport and playing and scoring. If I were to write it, I couldn’t have written it better than that. It was worth the wait,” Williams adds.

Though he was on the wrong side of 30, his presence has been nothing short of surgical: two goals in three matches, including a strike on debut — against Hong Kong — and the latest against Panama in an international friendly last month.

The 1-1 draw against Panama — playing its first match since its group-stage exit at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — saw India deliver one of its best performances in recent times. Williams scored the opening goal and the side eventually held a side ranked 94 sports above it.

“It was an amazing to share the pitch with these guys who have been at the World Cup. I think it’s a very big step in the right direction for us as a footballing nation,” he adds

Ryan Williams in Indian Football

National Team: 3 Matches, 2 Goals

Club football – Bengaluru FC: 59 matches, 17 goals, 6 assists

India, under coach Khalid Jamil, spent three weeks at the national camp in Bengaluru, tinkering with new combinations, shapes and player roles with nine new faces in the fold. And Williams believes that has paid dividends in forging a cohesive unit.

“There are a few boys that got left out of the squad. Disappointing for them, but we want to prove that we deserve to be in the squad, and we want to be in the next one and so on,” he says. “I think this window, with it being three weeks, has been really good for us just to be together again for a longer period and to work on more things that we wanted to work on.”

But football is a sport with a notoriously short memory. And looming on the horizon, India’s next opponent stands in the heavyweight form of Brazil.

For many, the prospect of a team ranked 138th locking horns with the World No. 5 might feel like a joke.

Williams, too, was one of them.

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“I thought it was fake, to be honest ( laughs). Then it came out on Brazil’s social media!” he says. “It’s an amazing occasion for me and all footballers. International football is the pinnacle, and to be able to test ourselves against, if not the best, the most successful international team in men’s football, is incredible.”

The Blue Tigers play the five-time world champion at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday, marking the first-ever clash between the two sides. Some of his opponents were players he was cheering for from his home in Bengaluru when Arsenal won the Premier League — the club he has loyally supported for decades.

There’s a glint in his eyes when he talks about the Selecao..

“To have Carlo Ancelotti there, and for me, being a big Arsenal fan: Gabriel and Guimaraes. Players like Marquinhos, I could name every single player in the squad. It’s amazing, and we understand we’re in a very privileged position,” he says.

There’s a plan to swap shirts post-match too.

“Gabriel. He was part of (the squad that ended) our 22-year wait to win the (Premier) league. With him being there, there’s no other person I want to swap with. If any of the boys are watching this, don’t swap with Gabriel; I’m getting it,” he jokes.

Williams is a big Arsenal fan and has his sights locked on one particular jersey from the Brazil team on October 3: Gabriel. | Photo Credit: IG/Ryan Williams

But the reputation of the South American giants will not overwhelm India’s intent when the match kicks off, Williams reassures.

“For me, it’s just another game. At the end of the day, they’re human beings, and so are we. You don’t want to get too carried away in terms of the whole spectacle and the fans and everything. You just have to go there and be yourself,” he explains.

“Each player in our team has their own different abilities and capabilities, and I think best for everybody just to focus on what they’re good at and do that.”

Brazil arrives in India on the back of two matches against Australia — the land of Williams’ birth, and a team that once counted several of his former dressing-room comrades among its ranks. Australia held Brazil to a draw last week before losing the next match 2-4.

Williams says the reputation of the South American giants will not overwhelm India’s intent at the Salt Lake Stadium. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

So, will there be a cheat sheet to stop Brazil, courtesy of his former teammates?

“The games are going to be made public anyway, so there’s nothing that they can really tell me that we can’t see on video. So, there won’t be too many messages going back and forth,” Williams explains.

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The Bengaluru FC forward returns to Kolkata and the Salt Lake Stadium after nearly six months. He had scored against East Bengal in front of a partisan crowd in April. He will be on the other side of the spectrum this time, even if against mighty Brazil.

“I’m going into it with a slight bit of optimism, because why not? It’s a game of football. That’s why we love the game. And I’m trying to kind of spread that around the camp,” he says.

“It’s a perfect kind of opponent for everybody – fans get something, we get something. Whatever the result is, we’re always going to take something from it, with a partial smile on our face.”

Williams’ journey from being a Socceroo to a Blue Tiger is complete. And when he walks out to face Brazil, he will not just have a tiger inked on him, but he will also have the hopes of 1.4 billion people rooting for a miracle on a land known for them.