Brazil captain Marquinhos held a pre-match press conference ahead of the match against India in Kolkata, where he discussed the warm welcome from local fans, the pressure of playing for Brazil, and the team's goal to regain confidence following the World Cup. This article covers the first part of the press conference.

First part of the press conference:

Marquinhos: I have defended the Brazilian national team for many years, and I treat every match as if it were my first and last.

Marquinhos, how do you feel being here?

I'm very happy to be in India today. Thank you for the warm welcome we received yesterday when we arrived in Kolkata. I'm really looking forward to this match and hope we can perform as well as possible against India. This is my first time in India, and so far, I'm really enjoying everything here. Thank you so much for the enthusiastic welcome from Kolkata.

Indian fans have a very deep connection with the Brazilian team. How does it feel to play here with such enthusiastic support from local fans? What kind of connection does this create for you and your teammates?

I think when you have the opportunity to come to a country like this, even for someone like me who has represented the Brazilian national team for a long time and lived within this team, the feeling is special. This is my first time here. The love they show us and their anticipation for the arrival of the Brazilian team is truly impressive. They want to experience these moments with Brazilian players, both in training and in matches.

You can imagine how it feels for players called to the Brazilian national team for the first time. I believe this is energy, a connection. It motivates you to keep moving forward, keep working hard, keep fighting, and push the Brazilian team step by step back to where it belongs—at the top—to start winning again and pursue important objectives.

After the World Cup, at the start of a new cycle, there are always valuable experiences like this. I believe we will carry these experiences forward through the rest of this cycle. So, this is an invaluable opportunity. It is truly valuable to be here representing the Brazilian national team, facing a country and people who love football, love the Brazilian national team, and love its entire history.

We want to reconnect with the Brazilian people. To do that, we need to achieve good results on the field, step onto the pitch, and represent the Brazilian jersey properly. At the same time, we also want to connect with those outside Brazil who always follow our team. India is undoubtedly one of the countries outside Brazil with the most supporters of the Brazilian national team. So, we are very happy and honored to have the opportunity to be here today.

Your performance at the World Cup was not ideal. Under Ancelotti, how are you now moving past that experience, that setback?

Yes, we are very aware that the World Cup results did not meet expectations. As players, we know how difficult the World Cup is, and how challenging it is to advance further in the World Cup and compete for important titles. We look at the team's level, the players' level, and their performance in matches.

So, we are now focused on the present, but we also carry our history and past with us, with experiences that allow us to learn lessons and continue moving forward. From now on, this is a fresh start, and we will bring the experience we have gathered. Especially our coaching staff—they have also experienced the World Cup before, so they now have more experience for the next World Cup and the next cycle. For us players, I think we will recover and always be as ready as possible.

I believe this is what drives us forward, and what keeps us moving, focusing on the next objective and important tasks ahead. We have long-term goals, but also current objectives that need to be achieved: to truly regain our confidence, play well again, and achieve some great victories.

Today, one of our goals here is to play a great match tomorrow, secure a good victory, and continue building confidence. The coach also needs to complete his observations of both new and veteran players he wants to continue assessing. This is all a process, a cycle. We continue gathering these elements to regain confidence and put ourselves in good shape for the next World Cup. That is our long-term goal.

But at this stage, our current objectives must be prioritized: to win, to keep moving forward, to regain confidence, to continue playing attractive football, and to regain the love and recognition of the Brazilian people and those who always follow us. These are the objectives we continue to pursue after the World Cup.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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