Kolkata: Manolo Marquez appeared irritated, upon his first touchline experience as India’s coach, he would have realized how much work still needs to be done after the Intercontinental Cup opener in Hyderabad ended in a 0-0 tie against Mauritius, who are placed 55 places lower at 179.
Marquez’s first significant task after Igor Stimac’s sacking and the retirement of veteran captain and top scorer Sunil Chhetri is this tournament. India, which is rated 124th by FIFA, has a lot of work ahead of them as they get ready to live without Chhetri. “It is difficult to play worse than today”, Marquez told the official broadcasters on Tuesday. The only way, therefore, is up, said the Spaniard. India’s next match is against Syria, who are rated 93rd; they had already faced each other already this year in the AFC Asian Cup, where India lost 1-0. With three victories apiece in their previous seven meetings, both clubs have historically been evenly matched.
After the Asian Cup disappointment, Stimac and his men faced their next crucial challenge in the second round of World Cup qualifiers. Despite going down 3-0 against Qatar in their first second-round qualifier, the Blue Tigers responded well with a 1-0 win against Kuwait. India was expected to carry on the winning momentum in the following two matches against Afghanistan but ended up playing a goalless draw in the first and losing 2-1 in the next.
Undoubtedly, Manolo’s specialty is offensive football, and the Spaniard’s top task will be to make his players more lethal in front of goal. His favored 4-2-3-1 configuration is catered to by the availability of Chhangte, Liston Colaco, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Manvir Singh. Given his teammates’ positions in the forward line and the fact that Manvir is anticipated to play as the No. 9, plenty of service shouldn’t be an issue for the latter.
Manolo possesses three qualities that might be useful as an India coach: his tactical adaptability, element of surprise, and astute man-management abilities. Indian Football’s fate is yet to be decided.
