Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: As expected, the Brazilian footballers set foot at the Kolkata airport on Thursday evening after playing their second FIFA friendly against Australia in Brisbane. Amid tight security, coach Carles Ancelotti, star footballer Vinicius Junior and the rest of the team were taken to a prestigious hotel on the bypass in the familiar green team bus of the Brazilian team. Football fans in Kolkata saw a large crowd on the way from the airport to the hotel to see the Brazilian footballers. Some were heard shouting 'Brazil, Brazil'. Security guards took strict measures to handle the large crowd entering the hotel. The enthusiastic crowd chanted the names of Coach Ancelotti and Vinicius, and a smile spread across their faces. Ancelotti raised his hand and greeted the Kolkata crowd. After a full rest on Thursday, Brazil coach Ancelotti will face the media on Friday morning. He will practice on the main pitch of Yuva Bharati at 4:30 pm in preparation for the match against India. Indian team coach Khalid Jamil will finish that practice in the morning.
It was decided long ago that the Brazilian football team would come to Kolkata to play. Vinicius Juniors will play the Indian football team's match at Yuva Bharati on October 3, the Indian Football Federation had announced. But even so, it seems that the Kolkata football fans, who are better known as Indians, were not as excited about the arrival of Brazil, the 5-time World Cup winner and number 5 in the FIFA rankings.
There could be several reasons. One of the reasons could be the lack of motivation and rest to attend the football festival just before Durga Puja, the best festival of Bengalis. The organizers of the match initially kept the ticket price unusually high. Maybe they thought that people from all over the country would flock to watch Brazil, which has just played in the FIFA 2026 World Cup. But there was no such interest until Carles Ancelotti stepped foot in Kolkata with his footballers on Thursday night. The state of ticket sales says so. To fill the stadium, the federation had to offer one ticket for free through sponsors. Even then, people are not very interested in buying tickets.
It is not that the football lovers of Kolkata are not Brazil fans. But one thing should be kept in mind, until Maradona's emergence in world football, the majority of football fans in India were only Brazil fans. They are in love with Pele. Maradona spread magic in world football and shared that popularity. It is fair to say that he broke Brazil's monopoly and made Argentina fans. And since Messi stepped into world football, it has increased even more. Just as the beauty of Messi's game has drawn everyone closer to him, so has Argentina's success. Brazil has not had any major success in world football since 2002. Successive failures in the World Cup have gradually alienated people from Brazilian football. They could not advance much in the FIFA 2026 World Cup either. Although the team has many famous footballers like Vinicius Junior, Guimarães, Cunha, and Macquinho, their star status is not like Neymar's. Neymar retired from the national team after playing for a short time in the 2026 World Cup, and he is no longer in the Brazil team. I believe that if Neymar were in the Brazil team, Yuva Bharati would have been filled just to see him.
Another reason why the interest may not reach that level is that the match is with the Indian team. Many people think that the match between the Indian team and Brazil will not be very popular. This is the unequal battle between Brazil and India, which is far behind in the FIFA rankings. And, how much will the Brazilian footballers spend, or rather, give their best, to face the Indian footballers. Everyone thinks that they will play percentage football by saving their legs. With Barcelona reeling from Rafinha's injury in the match against Australia, it's hard to imagine Vinicius or the rest of Brazil's footballers playing too much. No matter how much they spend over a month in Kolkata improving the surface of the Yuva Bharati field, many don't believe that the Brazilian expert delegation, Vinicius, will give it their all in Yuva Bharati to win the match against India.
However, the news of Vinicius' arrival in the city will make Brazilian fans a little more excited. Just before the match, their excitement level is slightly higher. It is not expected that Yuva Bharati will be completely filled, but it would not be wrong to think that it will be quite full. This is what Vikas Dharasur, who played for France in the 2006 World Cup, who came to Kolkata as a guest for the India-Brazil match, is hoping. Although he was born in France and is a French citizen, Vikas has a deep connection with the soil of India. He is of Indian descent from a long time ago. And so he will support India in the match against Brazil. He believes that playing with such a top-notch team will improve Indian footballers. The benefits will be seen in the future.