“If you can start it the right way, you can win it in future” was the message for the Indian footballers from Brazil’s 1970 World Cup winning captain Carlos Alberto Torres during the FIFA World Cup 2014 Trophy tour.
The former captain said: “In Brazil they teach us to be winners and not just play football. As an ambassador of Brazil I wish that India will play the World Cup very soon.
“ I hope the kids here are given the space which they need to play good football,” Torres said.
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He added: “the teams are more dependent on coaches and that is hampering the flair of the footballers. At our time we used to improvise on our own in an effort to win and did not wait for the coach to draw the tactics on a black board,” Torres told
“It is sad that players look at the coach to rescue them from a situation and have stopped using their own ingenuity.” he added.
Supporting the modern system of starting the attack deep down the defence, Torres said the practice began during his time and he pioneered “attacking defender concept” as a wing-back.
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“This makes football more attacking and gives little space to the opponent,” he said.
“World Cup is the best thing to have happened to Brazil and we will ensure that it becomes memorable. People will forget everything when there is football and I am sure they will participate with all their passion to make it a grand happening,” Torres said.
“In democracy, people have the right to protest. As we saw during the Confederations Cup (in June this year) there were people on the streets protesting.
“But I think that was just to make some noise,” said Torres.
The former Brazilian captain said he would wish to visit the Eden Gardens, where he scored a goal alongside his teammate and all-time favourite Pele, during his first visit to the city with Cosmos to play a friendly against Mohun Bagan in 1977.