Kolkata: “Wasn’t Vinicius part of that team?”




Lalengmawia Ralte, or Apuia as he is known, is trying to jog his memory about a time a decade ago, when India U-16 had lined up against Brazil at the BRICS Cup in Goa. The visitors, not surprisingly, had a star-studded squad, but India remained competitive with Komal Thatal scoring for the hosts in their 1-3 defeat.




Now, as India prepare to face the Brazil national team in a historic clash here on Saturday, Apuia remains the only player to progress from that U-16 BRICS Cup squad to the seniors. In fact, should, as expected, coach Khalid Jamil choose him to anchor the midfield – like he did against Panama – the technically-gifted midfielder will be the first to play twice against a country often referred to as 'o País do Futebol' or the country of football.




“In age-group competitions, there’s not much of a difference, since as 15 and 16-year-olds, we have the same strength and similar ability,” Apuia told TOI in a recent interaction. “As we grow older, the gap gets bigger, largely due to the number of (competitive) matches we play. Most of us (as juniors in I-League) played 20 games a year, while Brazilians, or players from any other top nation, will easily feature in about 50, if not more. Those matches make a world of difference. Against Brazil (on Saturday), it will be a lot more difficult.”




The clash against Brazil in 2016 was part of an understanding between BRICS nations during the Summit in Goa. India were preparing for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, and given the surfeit of exposure tours, the youngsters didn’t seem overawed when up against the mighty Brazilians.




“We were lucky to be part of that U-17 World Cup batch. We had a lot of exposure tours, played many friendlies abroad against good teams. I’ve always been a Brazil fan, so to see myself playing Brazil was a great experience. We got to learn a lot by just observing how they move, how they prepare. Seeing actually how good they were on the pitch was an eye-opener,” said Mohun Bagan’s influential midfielder.




On Saturday, the challenge will be even bigger.




Brazil are five-time world champions, now ranked fifth in the world. India are at 137, and even though Jamil’s side did well to hold World Cuppers Panama 1-1 in Bengaluru last week, the gulf in quality is too big to ignore.




Apuia, though, isn’t losing sleep.




“Facing Brazil is a huge challenge, an exciting one, but I am not the kind of player who will change the way I prepare for a match. I will just do what I do on other match days. I have told myself, ‘Brazil is a great team, their players are better than me; all that I can do is give my best and do whatever the coach wants us to do’.”




A huge Barcelona fan, Apuia will miss sharing the pitch with Brazil captain Raphinha , who has returned to the club after picking up an injury. But there will be other stars, particularly Vinicius Jr , who scored against India U-16, joined Real Madrid from Flamengo and later transformed himself into one of the best.