The head coach of the nationwide senior males’s soccer team Manolo Marquez expressed his disapproval at the means India capitulated towards the visiting Bangladesh facet earlier than escaping with a goalless attract the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers right here on Tuesday.
“If you ask me, this is the most difficult press conference in my career because I don’t want to say all the things that are in my head at this moment. I am very angry and disappointed,” a visibly upset Marquez vented.
“As a team we need to always improve, even when we are playing good football. A team needs to grow in all the areas, in defence, in attack, in transitions and in set-pieces. We played a bad game, that’s all,” the coach stated after the match.
“We got one point. Maybe that was the best thing about our game,” he added paradoxically.
With every team in the four-team Group C league taking part in six matches in a ‘home and away’ format, Marquez felt that the setback at dwelling would make it tougher for India to realize the prime spot in the last standings and safe the Asian Cup berth.
“There were some very important players who missed the match because of injury. But that cannot be an excuse. We will now have to start again in the second round and produce some good performances that will get us the necessary points,” Marquez stated whereas looking forward to India’s subsequent fixture, which comes up on June 10 towards Hong Kong at the latter’s dwelling.
Published – March 26, 2025 09:10 pm IST
