Kolkata : Former Brazil captain Cafu said that India needs to broaden its horizons and stop viewing itself as a small footballing nation. Stating that the Asian country needs to believe in its ability to grow, the World Cup-winning captain said that Brazil would be more than happy to cooperate with India on football development.
Citing the examples of Japan and China, Cafu explained that countries that invested in coaches and in the exchange of knowledge reaped the benefits.
India and Brazil will play a historic international friendly in Kolkata on October 3 at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan, also known as the Salt Lake Stadium. Cafu acknowledged the gulf between the two teams but said India had reasons to look forward with optimism.
“India really needs someone with that reasoning,” Cafu was quoted as saying by PTI in response to Bhaichung Bhutia’s remarks about the friendly during a discussion at the Global Impact Forum in Mumbai.
Expressing reservations about the fixture at Salt Lake Stadium, Bhutia said India should first invest in coaches and play the leading football nations only after reaching the required standard.
“I feel those kinds of matches should be on a merit basis. What is going to happen in that match is Brazil is going to dominate, obviously, because they are a top, world-class football team. The Indian team is just going to play defence, defence. You’re just going to park the bus and play one match,” said the former Brazilian right-back.
“India should also try and bring in a lot of great coaches, especially at the grassroots level, as Japan has done with the help of Brazilian football. I think that is the right model to follow,” he added.
Cafu said India should not think of itself as “too small in football” and must believe in its ability to grow.
“Why do you think of yourselves as too small in football? This is wrong. You are a giant. You need to believe you have the power,” Cafu said.
“But then you need to give the child an opportunity. Just like China did it and Japan did it, it is possible. Just like you said, by bringing coaches, exchanging information between countries and bringing that knowledge to Indian children, it is possible,” he added.
The two-time World Cup winner added: “Let us call this giving someone an opportunity. You give an opportunity to a child and the child will become a citizen and an athlete.
“Brazil is open to developing cooperation in this field so that India can become even greater than you already are. Let’s invest in sport and education.”
Cafu also recalled being told that he would never become a professional footballer and said he was proud to have pursued his ambition despite the rejections.
“The challenges are constant in the life of a professional footballer, and there is no conquest and no title without sacrifice. We came from simple families, from humble neighbourhoods, with huge dreams that came true,” he said.
“The most important thing is what you want to be. That is what made the difference between me and my colleagues, the people who lived and grew up in Jardim Irene and elsewhere.
“What made a difference is what I wanted to be. And I wanted to be a football player. Much before I became captain of the Brazilian team, I was turned down. People told me that I would never be a football player.
“But I could not let other people decide what I could be and what I could become. And then I became the captain of the Brazilian team,” he added.
