Positives & Negatives from India’s 4-0 loss to Brazil

Individual errors cost India the game against Brazil

The Brazilian national football team beat India 4-0 in the highly anticipated clash at the VYBK Stadium. Chelsea’s Estevao opened the scoring for the Selecao before Flamengo’s Pedro and Samuel Dias Lino split the other three goals amongst themselves. 

India did have chances; however, they failed to capitalise against an agile Brazilian defensive line. Though they suffered a loss, the Blue Tigers did earn the respect of their opponents as they gave a fair fight to a team that was 133 places ahead of them in the FIFA Rankings.

Here are a few positives and negatives for Khalid Jamil’s ahead from their 4-0 loss to Brazil:

Positive: India’s defence held up to Brazil’s attack until the 27th minute! 

The Blue Tigers started the game against Brazil like a pack of hungry dogs. Khalid Jamil’s side defended in a compact low block and restricted Brazil from creating any big chances in the opening minutes. India set up in a 4-4-2 formation, which opened up to a 4-2-3-1 in attack. 

Aside from not giving Brazil space to go through their defence, the Indian defenders also caught Vinicius and Estevao offside multiple times in the opening minutes as Khalid Jamil’s plans were executed to perfection

Negative: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had a game to forget 

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has been the best Indian goalkeeper over the last decade. The 34-year-old is very much trusted by Khalid Jamil, owing to which the coach also reinstated Gurpreet as the first-choice goalkeeper over Vishal Kaith. 

While his resume speaks for itself, Gurpreet has a game to forget against Brazil. The Bengaluru FC shotstopper conceded the first two goals cheaply, as on another day he would have saved both efforts. 

Gurpreet seemed to have been off guard with the shot power on both occasions, and it hurt India’s momentum going into the break. The Bengaluru FC player was eventually substituted out at half-time. 

Positive: Prabsukhan Gill was handed his international debut 

Khalid Jamil replaced Gurpreet Singh Sandhu at half-time to bring on Prabsukhan Gil against Brazil. The East Bengal goalkeeper was handed his international debut, and he made one save in the second half. 

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is creeping towards an advanced age in footballing terms, and the Indian national team is looking for a reliable goalkeeper who will carry the team over the next decade. The 25-year-old seems to fit this mould as he has done well for East Bengal and Kerala Blasters in the last few seasons. 

Though Prabsukhan Gil conceded two goals against Brazil, it will not be a surprise if Khalid Jamil chooses to start him against Uruguay on Tuesday. 

Negative: India were poor on set pieces 

Given that India were playing against Brazil, it was no surprise that they didn’t get a lot of chances. However, one major concern for Khalid Jamil would be that the Blue Tigers were quite ineffective from set pieces. 

India won six corners against Brazil. Anirudh Thapa was tasked with taking these corners; however, all but one of his deliveries created any sort of danger within the box. Given that India have converted quite a few goals from set pieces in the last couple of years, improving this could help India in the coming months. 

Positives: Ryan Williams and Manvir Singh could be India’s attacking duo moving forward!

Manvir Singh and Ryan Williams took a total of six shots against Brazil, with three of them being on target. Though it can be argued that Manvir had a couple of one-on-one instances against Marquinhos but couldn’t make the most of them, we should also look at the calibre of player the forward was playing against. 

Aside from taking shots, both players also pressed the Brazil defence tirelessly throughout the game, along with Ashique Kuruniyan, as per Khalid Jamil’s instructions.

While a goal against Brazil would have helped India’s confidence, the Blue Tigers do look like an improved unit in the last two games. 

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