Brazil tame India in 4-0 friendly win
- Chelsea winger Estevao scored Brazil's first goal and assisted Pedro before Lino netted a second-half brace, helping Carlo Ancelotti's side conclude their tour of Australia and India with two wins and a draw
KOLKATA: Samuel Lino scored his first two goals for Brazil as India’s frantic effort to hold off the five-time world champions faded after a spirited start, allowing the visitors to cruise to a 4-0 win in a friendly on Saturday.
Chelsea winger Estevao scored Brazil’s first goal and assisted Pedro before Lino netted a second-half brace, helping Carlo Ancelotti’s side conclude their tour of Australia and India with two wins and a draw.
Ancelotti, who has experimented with the squad throughout the three friendlies, made eight changes from Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Australia, retaining only Vinicius Jr, Danilo and Gabriel Bontempo.
India’s strategy of leaving Vinicius unmarked on the left and trapping him offside had some early success as they combined their defenders with a low midfield to hold Brazil off, and targeted lone forward Manvir Singh with long balls.
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But Estevao delivered the breakthrough in the 28th minute, cutting in from the right to dispatch a left-footer at the near post, before setting up Brazil’s second with a defence-splitting pass for Pedro to finish.
Pedro set up Samuel Lino for the third goal near the hour mark, before the 26-year-old Flamengo winger dribbled past two defenders to make it 4-0 just before fulltime, as the crowd of 51,000 at the Salt Lake Stadium cheered the visitors as vocally as their own country.
India, ranked 138th in the world, were left ruing their missed chances as Manvir and Ryan Williams failed to net a consolation goal, extending their winless streak to six matches.