KOLKATA: The day finally came. Two months after the announcement, the Brazilians touched down in this part of the world for 90 minutes of football. But for fans in India, they waited long enough for Saturday evening. Their love for Brazil was passed down from their ancestors, who were huge admirers of the country's greatest legends, including Pele, Zico, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho. Now, the likes of Vinicius Junior, Gabriel Magalhaes and Estevao were wearing one of the famous jerseys across all team sports. While they may not have the same pedigree as the legends, they still commanded a huge amount of respect from the 51,402 present at the Salt Lake Stadium.
The stadium, bathed in a beautiful mix of Blue and Canary, was reflective of the fans lending their support to the five-time world champions.
One of them, Raj Deora, said he was a wholehearted Brazil fan for the day. “I love India," Deora, who watched the game while wearing the OG Ronaldo jersey, told this daily. "I love Indian football, but for the day, it was Brazil all the way." He recalled the time when the game was officially announced. “I could not believe it,” he said. “My friend and I queued up in the official ticketing app and we got it."
He spoke of his love for the Selecao. “I love Brazil because of Ronaldo Nazario's magic back in 2002 (World Cup) in Japan and it was actually my first World Cup where I started understanding the game. But when I saw their beautiful game, I started loving it and I have loved Brazil since then,” he said.
The love for the five-time champions transcended across ages. Bikram Behra, a young NCC volunteer, scratched his head when asked whether he would perform his task of keeping fans in control or watch the match with them. “I’ll definitely watch the match,” he smiled. He expected Barcelona star Raphinha on Saturday, but he didn’t make it due to his injury in Australia not long ago. “I’ll keep my eyes on Vinicius,” he added.
Brazilians too had travelled to the game. Felipe — a Brazilian travel agent based in New Delhi — had been excited for this tie too. It was his first time at Salt Lake. “I am surprised to see so many Brazil jerseys," he claimed. “Matches like these would help the sport here. It looks like a big party."
While Felipe believed the match would help the sport here, Mohammad Sinan from Malappuram, Kerala, believed that India needed to work on the grassroots level. “Sure, this match is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for players and fans but we need to develop talents from the grassroots. That is more important,” he said.
While Brazil had a lot of crowd-pullers like Vinicius and Marquinhos, the crowd made a right old din whenever India progressed with the ball. In fact, whenever India launched balls into enemy territory, the excitement turned into roars, and interruptions in play got them pushing their players for more.
Bikram Ghatak was also part of that crowd. While there were a lot of first-timers, Ghatak was watching his 24th match at the venue. “This (Saturday’s match) was his 24th at this venue. We even took him to the Messi (GOAT Tour) event last year,” Biplab, Bikram's father, told this daily. And as he held the banner and cheered for the nation, his wish of seeing his nation compete against the world's best had come true.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, many, like Bikram, will have gone home knowing they lived their dreams for a 90-minute period.