India vs Brazil: ‘Convert pressure into pleasure’ — Khalid Jamil

Kolkata: It takes a lot to faze Khalid Jamil but for once, the India head coach’s game face slipped. Will the players sleep well tonight, he was asked. Jamil recovered quickly and deadpanned that his team knew the importance of getting adequate rest.

By then, to the whir of cameras going on overdrive, Jamil had been hugged by Carlo Ancelotti, the man who will be in the opposite dug-out as Brazil’s head coach. India play Brazil here in a football friendly and all Jamil has asked of his men was to “take responsibility” and convert pressure – there will be lots of it, he said – into pleasure.

“The result is not in our hands but if you give your best, anything can happen,” said Jamil. Cut out mistakes, stick to the coach’s plan and give 100%, said Anwar Ali, the central defender and India’s most consistent player, sat alongside.

Dry and pithy, the answers were as removed from those by Ancelotti and Brazil skipper Marquinhos as India are from Brazil in the world of football. But it fit a coach and his team not known to overcomplicate. Nothing, not even this being the first time many in the Indian diaspora would be watching the senior men’s national team, will change that.

Sometimes, it is what works best for India. Proof of that came in Bengaluru on September 25 when India held Panama 1-1. Panama is history, said Ali, but against a top-10 team with an array of stars, it is unlikely India will look to do anything markedly different from what they did against opponents ranked 44th in the world. They will try to be compact at the back and look to hit on the break, often bypassing the midfield, by going long.

India have prepared as best as they could with a training camp that began nearly three weeks ago. The reshaped, long window helped but so did clubs by releasing players before the international break began on September 21. CEOs of five Indian Super League (ISL) clubs met Jamil and his staff and Satyanarayan Muthyalu, the deputy secretary-general of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), to plan for this window and the one in November when India travel to New Zealand.

“This is perhaps for the first time in a long period that the clubs and the coach exchanged views, and the clubs said they would also help in building the national team,” Satyanarayan said in a statement on September 26.

Long training camps have helped the national team bridge the gap between domestic competitions – where they play alongside foreign players who are usually better technically and tactically – and internationals. Proof of that in recent past came in the run of three tournament wins in 2023, which took India back to the top 100, and the qualifying campaign in 2022 for the Asian Cup.

For Brazil, this is another opportunity to see new players as they rebuild after the World Cup. “I am in the process of finding my final squad,” said Ancelotti. He is used to squads transitioning at clubs but doing that with the national team is different. “For the national team, it is important to choose the right player because you do not have time. But unlike at clubs, you get more time to think.”

Between them, goalkeepers Hugo Souza, Pedro Morisco and Otavio in the Brazil squad have played a total of three internationals. “For Pedro, this could be the first time to demonstrate his skill,” said Ancelotti of the 22-year-old goalkeeper who has over 100 caps for his club Coritiba in Brazil.

Otavio, Gabriel Bontempo (midfielder), Breno Bidon (midfielder) and Arthur Dias (defender) got their first caps in Australia where Brazil drew one and won the other.

Along with Morisco, defenders Mauro Junior, Jair Cunha and Matheuzinho are the uncapped players in this squad. Should they play they will remember this vast amphitheatre where Oliver Kahn was given a farewell by Bayern Munich and where Lionel Messi first wore the armband for Argentina. For, no one forgets their first international match.

“It is an important game to start a new cycle of players,” said Ancelotti. The Brazil head coach spoke of India forward Ryan Williams, “who could be dangerous for us as he is fast” and his captain Marquinhos mentioned India goalie and skipper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu “who has played nearly 90 matches.” If he starts on Saturday, it will be Sandhu’s 90 international.