Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: The Indian football team reached Kolkata on Monday after playing the Panama match. On Tuesday, Gurpreet, Anwar, Ryan Williams, Joy Gupta practiced in full swing under the supervision of national team coach Khalid Jamil at the Center of Excellence ground in Rajarhat for the Brazil match on October 3. The confidence of the Indian camp was high after a successful 1-1 draw with Panama, which is ranked 44th in the FIFA rankings.
Despite the fact that they have a game against 5-time world champions Brazil, which is ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings, ahead. Earlier, Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet and striker Ryan Williams said in a loud voice that they know the strength of Brazil.
However, without thinking about what they will do, they will have to give their best on the field. And what Indian team defender Jay Gupta said before Tuesday's practice will give Indian fans extra confidence before the Brazil match. Indian defender Jay is not shy before playing the Brazil match. Rather, he said, 'Kapil Dev showed India that nothing is impossible by making it the champion in the 83rd World Cup.
Before that, no one thought that India could win the World Cup. But it happened. The fact that he became the champion before playing the Brazil match is an inspiration to us. Kapil Dev's success of the Indian team brought a tide to the cricket of the entire country. We also want to fight against Brazil, we are not behind in any way. Building on the foundation of the good play in the Panama match.'
Jay knows very well that it is not easy to face Brazil, which is ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings. Especially when the Brazilian team has a bunch of World Cup players including Vinicius Junior. Vinicius is one of the best wingers in the world. It is very difficult to stop him. But Jay Gupta is not nervous about him. Rather, he is taking it as an additional challenge. He said, "It is a privilege to have the opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the world like Brazil. I want to use it without feeling inferior. The whole world will be watching us. They will want to see how we handle Brazil. If we play well, Indian football will gain a reputation in the world. Our country's football will gain new momentum."
There is no difficulty in saying that the fight against Brazil is uneven. Australia, which played in the World Cup, struggled against Brazil on their own field, and the Indian football team, which is 129 points behind, is worried about whether it will be able to save its honor, let alone save its loss. Brazil drew its first FIFA international friendly match against Australia 1-1 in Townsville last Friday. On Tuesday, Carles Ancelotti's Brazil came from behind to win 4-2 in the second FIFA international friendly match against Australia at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. But despite winning the match, the Brazilian camp was hit hard by the injury of their star footballer Rafinha.
Barcelona star Rafinha scored a goal for Brazil from the penalty spot just before the break, but he did not play again in the second half against Australia. He was replaced by Andric in the second half. The Brazilian Football Federation said in a statement that striker Rafinha did not play after the break due to discomfort in his right leg muscle. From what is understood, Rafinha's injury could have worsened if he had been forced to play. Tests will be carried out to determine the severity of the injury. However, Brazil national team coach Ancelotti did not talk to the media about Rafinha's injury at a press conference after the Australian match.
The news of Rafinha's injury has caused concern in the Barcelona camp. The 29-year-old striker has already scored 14 goals in 8 matches in all competitions. Barcelona has won all 8 of these matches. Rafinha has a history of hamstring problems. The Brazilian forward had to miss 25 matches in the 2025-26 season due to that injury. Rafinha even suffered a hamstring injury while playing against Haiti in the World Cup. He could not play in the rest of the World Cup matches wearing the Brazilian jersey.
Naturally, the question arises, will Rafinha come to Kolkata to play against India after such an injury? It seems that Rafinha will not come to Kolkata. It would not be surprising if Barcelona brought Rafinha back from Brisbane to recover from the injury and quickly return to the field for club matches through rehab.