Estevao, Pedro and Samuel Lino expose India’s shortcomings as Brazil cruise to 4-0 victory in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Brazil 4 and India 0. The staggering gap between the five-time world champions and the one with 137 Fifa ranking and hardly any international pedigree of late looked too obvious to mention.If goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was partially responsible for allowing Brazil to go 2-0 up in the first half, with Estevao and Pedro finding the target in 28 and 42 minutes, Samuel Lino’s brace as a second-half substitute, in 58 and 90+5 minutes, were quite pleasing to the eye. The result was unapologetically direct. This was also a reminder that when the game as a contest melted into a foregone conclusiona, the line between reverie and reality got blurred and the gap in class and quality between the two sides looked as large as the geographical distance between the countries.In Brazil’s rebuilding process, this match perhaps lacked the usual significance and substance and was more about paying homage to their massive fan base in this part of the world. In India’s transitional phase, this didn’t even come with its conventional contour of something to fight for but rather as an eerily abstract way of negotiating a challenge they didn’t have the wherewithal to survive, let alone rescuing anything from it.Yet, despite odds heavily stacked against them, India got in on the act initially with conviction, trying hard to prevent it from falling victim to formula. There were some moments, however transitory they might have been, when a sense of expectations drifted in the air. Apuia’s snap shot from the distance, Manvir Singh runs and a couple of Ryan Williams’ attempts elicited roars of appreciation from the crowd. Those were the times when energy got blended with purpose in Indian players’ footsteps and embraced the possibility of matching the South American giants with a fearlessly combative mentality. On occasions when Vinicius and Pedro and others came calling with their usual attacking aspirations, they were stopped in their tracks by some well-executed offside traps from Anwar Ali and Co.However, two poor judgments allowed Brazil to make the script look familiar. When Estevao, facing a challenge from Ashique Kuruniyan, let fly a powerful left-footer, the India goalkeeper wearing the captain’s armband, couldn’t hold on to it.Soon Pedro, who replaced injured Barcelona star Raphinha in Carlos Ancelotti’s line-up, saw his header hit the post. And when the Flamengo star, who was ignored for Brazil’s World Cup squad, latched on to Estevao’s brilliant through-ball, Gurpreet was again found wanting in closing out the space and couldn’t prevent the ball from rolling into the net.It could’ve been more before the break but Vinicius couldn’t beat Gurpreet from a one-on-one situation.Khalid Jamil was forced to replace Gurpreet with Prabhsukhan Gill at the second half. Ancelotti also came out with a slew of substitutions, including one to introduce Samuel in place of Vinicius. The Flamengo attacker, a key member of Ancelotti’s rebuilding Brazil, found the target twice with the kind of precision that was enough to wow the crowd.In the end, India did exhibit some moments of resolve. But against the backdrop of this quasi-heightened setting, against a full-strength Brazil, once it got down to the business of developing into a linearity, any attempt to frame this match as a conventional David-vs-Goliath clash always looked outlandish and outmoded.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.