Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 17 (ANI): In their last match of 2024, the Indian senior men’s national team will face Malaysia in a friendly match at the GMC Balayogi Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday.
It is Manolo Marquez’s third FIFA window match in-charge of the Blue Tigers (India). It all started here in the City of Pearls in September as India drew 0-0 with Mauritius and lost 0-3 to Syria in the Intercontinental Cup.
The October friendly away to Vietnam was an improvement of sorts as they drew 1-1 with the hosts, with Farukh Choudhary scoring the first goal of the Marquez era. However, the Spaniard is still on the hunt for his first win as a national team coach, which he hopes to achieve on Monday before a four-month gap in international football. The next time the Indian senior men’s team convenes will be in March 2025 for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Final Round.
“It’s a friendly game but it will be good to check the level against a Pot 2 team in the qualifiers. We have gone a long time without a win, so obviously we want to win. We want to show the improvement that we’ve been making in every training session,” said Marquez at the pre-match press conference, as quoted by a release from the AIFF Media Team.
The draw for the Asian Cup Qualifiers will be held on December 9. India, ranked 125, will be placed in Pot 1, while Malaysia, ranked 133, will be in Pot 2. Irrespective of Monday’s friendly game result, India will maintain their position in Pot 1.
Forward Edmund Lalrindika accompanied Marquez in the press conference.
The 25-year-old said, “This is our third camp with coach Manolo. He is a really great coach. The preparations have been good. Everyone is comfortable with him. I enjoy training with him. We all know what he wants from us. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
Although the Vietnam match was a better showing than the Intercontinental Cup, Marquez stressed that there remains plenty of room for improvement in every aspect. Malaysia will pose a different sort of a challenge that India have been preparing for on the training pitch for the past five days.
“Football is about attack, defence, transitions and set pieces. We need to improve in everything. For example, people say you played a great second half in Vietnam. I say yes, but we still made some big mistake that almost made us lose the game. We need to work on that. The team with less mistakes usually are the one who wins the game. We will try to play a good game with fewer mistakes than Malaysia. We know the style of Malaysia; I know the coach perfectly (well). They play good football and it will be a tough game for both teams,” said Marquez.
Like Marquez, Malaysia head coach Pau Marti also hails from Barcelona and took charge of Harimau Malaya in July. Under him, they won the Merdeka Tournament in September and lost 0-4 to New Zealand last month. Malaysia beat Laos 3-1 in a friendly in Bangkok on November 14 and arrived in India from the Thai capital late on Saturday night.
“I am very excited to play against Manolo. I think he is a great coach with a lot of experience. We are from the same city. He coached many clubs at different levels, from the fourth tier to LaLiga. I think for coaches from Barcelona, Manolo is an inspiration. So to me, I’m really happy to meet him tomorrow. I think he’s been here now in India for three or four years, working with different clubs. I’m sure the Indian team will be well prepared,” said Marti, as quoted by a release from the AIFF Media Team.
“Also I believe it’s very tough to play here. We expect a very difficult game. For us as a team, I think we have to improve our record away from home. It’s been difficult to win away. So I think it will be a good challenge and opportunity for us,” the Malaysian coach added.
Marquez expressed his love for the city of Hyderabad, where he began his coaching career in India back in 2020, and hoped the crowd would turn up with the same passion on Monday as they did during the Intercontinental Cup in September.
“It’s always a pleasure for me to be in Hyderabad. I love this city. It’s like my first love in India. It will always be Hyderabad. Life in Goa is good, but Hyderabad is always special. I have very good memories in this city. Against Syria, the stadium was almost full, so I hope many will come tomorrow as well,” said the Spaniard. (ANI)
