Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: After drawing 1-1 with Panama at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, the Indian football team is preparing to face Brazil in the Yuva Bharti on October 3 at the Centre of Excellence in Kolkata, Rajarhat. Only time will tell what the outcome of the match will be, but for now, there is good news for Indian football fans, before the start of the India-Brazil match, Indian legendary footballer IM Vijayan and the heartthrob of Mohun Bagan fans, the famous Brazilian footballer Jose Ramirez Barretto, will enter the Yuva Bharti with the official match ball. The two football stars are excited and overwhelmed to be part of such a great football event.
The Uruguayan football team reached Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon. A little early. Because Uruguay's game against the Indian football team is on October 6 at Yuva Bharti. But Uruguay's chief coach Diego Forlan is quite serious about the match against India, which is understandable, as he has rushed to Kolkata with the team. Forlan and his team's footballers will have both a chariot show and a banana sale. They will be able to adapt to the unfamiliar weather by spending a long time in Kolkata and practicing on a secluded field. Along with this, they will have the added benefit of watching the matches between India and Brazil sitting in the gallery of Yuva Bharati. This will allow Forlan to hone his tactics before facing the Indian team. Forlan is also starting preparations for the match against India with the entire team at the Yuva Bharati training ground from Thursday afternoon.
However, the real football fever will start in Kolkata on Thursday afternoon when the Brazilian football team arrives in Kolkata. Although Rafinha is not coming due to injury, the Brazilian team has a bunch of famous footballers who played in the FIFA 2026 World Cup, including Vinicius Junior. Brazil, coached by Carles Ancelotti, is coming to Kolkata after winning one of the last two FIFA international friendlies with Australia by 1-1 and the other by 4-2. The Indian football team, which is ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings and has won the World Cup five times, has a huge difference in strength with Brazil. However, Ancelotti is not taking Khalid Jamil's team lightly. On the contrary, it goes without saying that after seeing the Indian team's 1-1 draw in the Panama match, he will ask his footballers to play with extra intensity. Ancelotti has already created a controversy before coming to Kolkata that there is no football culture in India. It is not surprising that the Indian football camp is in a state of turmoil. And therefore, Ancelotti will ask India to play with the attitude of losing by a big margin to prove his point, there is no doubt about it. Indian goalkeepers Gurpreet, Anwar, Vijay, Ryan, Apuya will have to handle that.