It is special to coach my first game in Hyderabad, says Manolo Marquez ahead of Intercontinental Cup 2024

The Spanish tactician is hopeful of achieving new milestones with his side.

As Team India turns a new chapter, head coach Manolo Marquez addressed the media for the first time, ahead of the Intercontinental Cup game against Mauritius scheduled to kick off on Wednesday 3rd September 2024. He was joined by Naorem Roshan Singh as they spoke on the game ahead. 

On his first assignment and homecoming to Hyderabad 

Manolo Marquez said he feels excited for his first official game in charge of the Blue Tigers as he mentioned, “I want the kick-off to arrive as soon as possible and it is even more special to coach my first game in Hyderabad.”

Player Roshan echoed the same and said, “Like everyone, we are very motivated and focused on the game. Even though the weather is not the best, we will go for a good start tomorrow.”

Manolo Marquez continued to state that even though there haven’t been too many training sessions, he feels super special to come back to Hyderabad and appreciates the new facilities in the stadium. 

Team News and preparation time for the game

Manolo Marquez said that he has 25 players at his disposal for the game tomorrow from the initial 26-man list named for the national team. “Mohammed Yasir had a serious injury in the last game so he will be out tomorrow but everyone else is ready,” Manolo Marquez attested. 

Due to the preseason, the national team can only have 2 training sessions ahead of the game tomorrow, but Manolo said that they have to be ready “I would have wanted more time but as a coach, I cannot complain about this. These are the fixtures and we cannot think about these things We will train hard and be ready for tomorrow,” concluded the coach. 

Inspiration for the game tomorrow

The coach was quizzed on what would be the motivation for the players as they play a lower-ranked opponent tomorrow. Manolo Marquez assured that although the teams were in the preseason and their physical fitness might be uncertain, there would be no grounds for excuses. He further stated, “Tomorrow we have a game and we will be ready for the game no matter what the circumstance.”

Watch Here: India vs Mauritius | Manolo Márquez & Naorem Roshan Singh Press Conference | Intercontinental Cup

Weather conditions ahead of the game tomorrow and on the difference in style between Stimac and Him. 

For a city that is gearing up to host the national team after a long hiatus, Hyderabad has welcomed the teams with heavy rainfall and the team was seen training in the rain yesterday. 

Ahead of the game tomorrow, Naorem Roshan Singh said, “We don’t have much time and the weather is what it is, our focus is on ourselves and to try and win tomorrow.”

Manolo Marquez was asked what we can expect different from Igor Stimac for the national team but the Spaniard downplayed it saying, “I share a great relationship and I do not want to compare anything with him. Every coach has a different style and all can be right.

“Igor has done great work with the national team, I believe, and he prepared the team during COVID-19 which was very difficult. It’s difficult to change things and we will try to do a good game.”

He also requested the fans to be patient and remarked that the scoreline for tomorrow wouldn’t reflect much as the team had only trained for two sessions. 

On the Challenge to replace Chhetri

This will be the second official game without India’s stalwart Sunil Chhetri who called quits on his stellar international career earlier this year. Manolo Marquez paid his respects to him and compared Chhetri’s situation to the one with Ronaldo and Benzema for Real Madrid as he recalled, “Everyone knows how great Sunil is and I don’t need to speak so much about him, he is a special player. 

“In Spain, we had the same situation when Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid everyone thought about who would score goals, and suddenly Benzema appeared. So if you don’t have him we have to find other players to score goals, we need to find ways to score with a winger or a center-back and I prefer to have many people scoring goals than only one player,” he stated. 

Manolo Marquez on the new faces in the squad and the goals for the tournament. 

Manolo Marquez named 3 new faces to the roster by including Striker Kiyan Nassiri, Goalkeeper Prabsukhan Gill, and central midfielder Lalthathanga Khawlhring ( Puitea).

When quizzed on whether we can expect them to feature in the tournament, he answered by saying, “I cannot guarantee how many minutes they will play. We have a squad of 25 for tomorrow and all of them will be ready to play. The youngsters have to show they can play. I will play the best players who I think can get a result.” He also mentioned that the real target is to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup starting in March. 

Areas to improve for the AFC Asian Cup and thoughts on the final team

“We need to improve in all aspects of the game and transition. As a coach, I’m aware that I will also improve by learning from the players. It’s a huge privilege for me to train the top players in India and learn from them,” said Manolo Marquez when asked about what he wants to improve in the squad. 

Finally, the coach was asked about his thoughts on the final team ahead of kickoff tomorrow and how he would select a team. “It’s again true we have only 2 sessions, nothing we can do about it! We will have more time after the game tomorrow, we can also have a 1-month camp and feel we are not ready and as a coach, I would prefer a long camp. But it’s the motivation and attitude of the squad that will carry us forward,” Manolo concluded.

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