'I am fully focused on the Malaysia match': India Head Coach Manolo Marquez Cuts Out Focused Figure

As Indian Super League (ISL) takes a break for November FIFA international window, focus shifts to Indian national team. Blue Tigers began ir training on Monday in preparation for ir upcoming friendly against Malaysia on November 18 at GMC Balayogi Athletic Stium in Hyderab.

Manolo Marquez On Match Against Malaysia

Under coach Marquez, India are still in search of ir first win. Blue Tigers played to a goalless draw with Mauritius and suffered a 0-3 defeat to Syria in Intercontinental Cup earlier this September in Hyderab. In October, y also played a friendly against Vietnam, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

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During this international break, Blue Tigers will play just one match, with he coach justifying his decision to schedule only a single fixture during this period.

“I decided a long time ago to play only one game in (November) window. Everyone knows that national teams don't get enough time to train. I feel we're still in beginning stage. This is only going to be our fourth game. My feeling is that improvement in last game was big and we need to continue in this line,” Marquez told AIFF.com.

new he coach hasn’t been shy about calling up players who have impressed in league, and this time is no different. This time, Hmingthanmawia Ralte, Vibin Mohanan, Irfan Yw, and Thoiba Singh earned ir first national team call-ups, with latter replacing Anirudh Thapa, who, along with Vikram Partap Singh, has been ruled out due to injury.

Marquez believes team is still in building process, with main focus on AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, which begin in March 2025.

“We’re still working on finding right group. Right now, re are around 14-16 players who will be in mix, but we’re not sure yet. A lot can change with injuries and form, but as a coach, I need to identify players who can play style we want," said Marquez.

With next game just days away, he emphasized that his utmost focus is on upcoming match against Malaysia, as it will be team's final friendly before AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.

"I am fully focused on Malaysia match at moment. In a way, it's a dangerous game because players are in middle of fight for ISL and this is just one friendly game in November, and next camp will be in four months. But I am very confident in this group and I feel we will have a good performance next Monday," said he coach.

Blue Tigers are determined to secure ir first win under Marquez and are focused on maximizing ir training sessions to better align with coach's style of play.

"Everyone wants to win every game. But feeling we got after draw with Vietnam was completely different from what we got after drawing with Mauritius or losing to Syria. In some moments, we played superbly. one key thing is that players have to believe in our style of play. I want to win every game and even every training session," he said.