‘India Played A Good Game’: Ancelotti Praises Blue Tigers After Brazil’s 4-0 Win In Kolkata

Brazil may have walked away with a 4-0 victory, but India earned something valuable from the historic night at Salt Lake Stadium — the respect of one of football’s most decorated coaches.

Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti praised India’s organisation, defensive discipline and willingness to attack on the counter, saying the Blue Tigers gave his star-studded side difficult moments before the five-time world champions eventually took control.

“They tried to play their game. They defended, they were organised, they tried to play counter-attack. I think they played a good game,” Ancelotti said after the match.

India managed to stay in the contest for the opening 25 minutes before Brazil found the breakthrough through Estevao. Once ahead, Brazil began to dominate and created a steady stream of chances, eventually securing a comfortable victory.

The statistics underlined the difference between the two sides. Brazil enjoyed 65.8 per cent possession and produced 20 attempts compared with India’s nine. The visitors also had seven shots on target, compared with three for India, while completing 652 passes at 90.3 per cent accuracy.

India, however, showed commitment without the ball, making 23 clearances and six tackles. Brazil had 29 attacking touches inside India’s box, against 12 by the hosts.

For Ancelotti, though, the match was about more than the scoreline. The game formed part of Brazil’s three-match international window and gave him an opportunity to assess several younger players as he continues to shape his squad.

He singled out Jair, Breno and Arthur Dias for praise and said the extended run of matches had helped him understand the younger players better. Ancelotti also noted that players lacking regular club football, including Estevao and Endrick, can find competitive international games more challenging.

The Brazilian coach admitted there was still room for improvement in defence despite the clean sheet, particularly because his backline had never played together before.

“We have to improve some mechanisms in defence because we had a new defence that never played together,” he said.

The Kolkata game also gave Ancelotti a clearer idea of his next squad selection. While he does not expect major changes, he said he wants to look at other young players who were unavailable for this international window.

For India, the defeat was a reminder of the enormous gap that remains at the highest level, but Ancelotti’s assessment offered a significant positive from a night when the Blue Tigers stood across the field from one of football’s biggest teams.

And before leaving Kolkata, the Brazilian coach had one final message for the passionate crowd: “Thank you, Kolkata.” He said Brazil wanted to give the fans a show and hoped they enjoyed seeing the team play.