The Indian All-Stars team’s opponents were members of the 1994 and 2002 World Cup-winning Brazilian team. Gilberto Silva, Edmilson, Ricardo Oliveira, Jorginho, Lucio, Paulo Sergio, Kleberson, Giovanni, Viola, Alexandre Ferre were among the other players in the Brazilian team. They also had Dunga as their coach.
I.M. Vijayan and Ronaldinho during the match (PTI photo)
The Indian All-Stars team faced members of the 1994 and 2002 World Cup-winning Brazilian team. Other players in the Brazilian team included Gilberto Silva, Edmilson, Ricardo Oliveira, Jorginho, Lucio, Paulo Sergio, Kleberson, Giovanni, Viola, Alexandre Ferre, and Dunga. They were coached by Dunga himself. “Two years ago, I played an exhibition match with Brazilian players including Rivaldo in Dubai. When I met him in Chennai on Sunday, Rivaldo remembered it. It shocked me that someone like him still remembers it. Ronaldinho welcomed me with a hug. I was overwhelmed,” says Vijayan.
Ronaldinho played as a left midfielder. Vijayan said that he had also tried to ‘encourage’ Ronaldinho.
“A few months ago, I went to watch a friendly match between Brazil and Qatar. In that match, Ronaldinho scored an impossible free kick. When I was preparing for one, I reminded Ronaldinho about it. The question was whether he would score a goal like the one he scored in Qatar. But his kick didn’t go in.”
Most of the Brazilian players don’t speak English very well. They all like to speak Portuguese and Spanish. One of the people who speaks English is former Brazil coach and player Dunga. So, Vijayan said that he mostly talked to Dunga.
‘The final of the 2002 World Cup. I was among those who watched Brazil win the title at the Yokohama Stadium in Japan. ‘I watched the game from behind the post where Ronaldo beat Germany’s goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and scored two goals’ – Vijayan said those were the words he had reserved to say when he saw Ronaldo. But Vijayan could have said the same to Dunga.
The match was as friendly as the word ‘friendly’ suggests. The Indian line-up included Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep, Mahesh Gawli, Mehtab Hussain, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury and others. The Brazilian team won 2–1. Viola scored the goals for Brazil in the 43rd minute and Ricardo Oliveira in the 63rd minute. Bibiano Fernandes scored the Indian goal in the 44th minute. After the match, which was played in two halves of 35 minutes each, it was said that there would be a penalty shootout, but this was later cancelled.
Vijayan went to Chennai to participate in a friendly match amidst the hustle and bustle of a tournament being organized in Thrissur in memory of his mother Kochammu. Vijayan, who believes that his mother’s sweat, tears and prayers made him who he is, has long been dreaming of a football tournament in his home country in the name of his mother. I.M. Vijayan, who rose to fame as a legendary star of Indian football from Kolothumpadam in Thrissur, will retire from the Kerala Police on April 30.
