Jay Gupta: India’s first senior friendly with Brazil in Kolkata will be 'one of the best learning curves'
India’s senior men’s team will meet Brazil for the first time at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) in Kolkata during the FIFA Sept-Oct international window, with the friendly scheduled to start at 7:30 PM IST; Indian defender Jay Gupta spoke to the media ahead of the match.
Both sides have already played during this international window: India drew 1-1 with Panama on 25th September and Brazil beat Australia 4-2 on 29th September, with Raphina, Bruno Guimarães & Vinicius Jr among the scorers; India are ranked 138th while Panama are 44th.
Gupta praised the way head coach Khalid Jamil’s plans were implemented and said the Panama result had lifted the squad’s belief. He said, “I think everyone in this team knows it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, everyone is excited to meet the players they have always grown up watching. To be able to see where they stand, competing with these players, we’re very excited. After the game we had against Panama, a lot of confidence in the group and we wanna take it forward into this next one.”
On preparation and scouting, Gupta said the Indian analysts had provided recent footage and that watching Brazil’s match against Australia was part of that work. He said, “Our analyst team is always working to getting us all the footage and keeping us updated with whatever is happening recently. And obviously, to be able to play them right after they’re playing Australia, we need the recent analysis.” He added lessons from Panama had reinforced training work: “we were able to successfully execute the coaches plans, and it gave us a lot of confidence even in training sessions. As a group we had a longer camp this time, so the group felt more closer together and we wanna build on that.”
Gupta described the squad’s mindset and the level of focus he expects against Brazil, saying players did not need extra motivation and must maintain intense concentration on the pitch. He said, “I don’t think any player on the team needs any extra motivation to prepare, we just want to start our training sessions get to doing what the coach wants us to be doing and reach there. After that it’s going to be just playing for our dream.” He also said, “I think playing against Brazil you need to be concentrated 1000% on the pitch. So, as long as each and every player shows that level of concentration, I think we’ll be learning a lot of things. The main concentration is being able to learn as much as we can and knowing how far we are able to compete against world champions.”
Asked about the prospect of scoring against Brazil and the match-day atmosphere, Gupta said the team would take the game minute by minute and welcome the support of Kolkata crowds. He said, “We definitely would love to be able to score against Brazil obviously. I think it’s more about taking it minute by minute, to be Able to understand the game in the first 15 & execute our plans well. So, if we can get on the scoresheet first, then it would be the best thing.” Gupta, who currently plays for East Bengal FC, said: “Luckily most of my highs have been in Kolkata, I have been very warmly welcomed by the Kolkata fans and its been very good for me playing in Kolkata. I’m very happy to be able to take that momentum into the game against Brazil, I’m looking forward to it because not only will I have East Bengal fans but also fans of the other teams of Kolkata coming and cheering together this time for India.”
On matching up with world-class attackers, Gupta framed the fixture as a development opportunity and reflected on his call-up to the national squad. He said, “As a defender I have always been dreaming about trying to see how I would be able to compete against some of the best attacking players in the world. I think this opportunity is very good for a defender like me to be able to understand how these kind of players they take on 1v1s.So for me it’ll be one of the best learning curves and that’s what I’m really looking forward to in this game, to understand how to approach this situation and at the end of the day to improve and do it in my own life.” He added, “I’ve been working hard. I was very happy to get the call from coach Khalil. I think at this moment, I feel very lucky to be part of this squad right now because I feel like we are kind of knocking at the door of 5 time world champions, trying to show that we also have the calibre to push for those accolades that they are holding. We want to be able to, just like for example: before Mr. Kapil Dev brought the World Cup home and he started the revolution, we are looking to show our calibre and build from that.” He concluded, “that was just an example of how we had the revolution of cricket, we’re just trying to build that on our own terms and just excited for the game.”
The friendly between India and Brazil is confirmed to take place at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 PM IST during the FIFA Sept-Oct international window.