‘I am really angry and disappointed’: Manolo Marquez after India’s goalless draw vs Bangladesh | Football News
The Indian football team head coach, Manolo Marquez minced no words and said he was ‘angry and disappointed’ with the way Men in Blue played against Bangladesh on Tuesday. India played a goalless draw with Hamza Choudhury-led Bangladesh in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong.
“We didn’t even defend well. I am really angry and disappointed. The best thing is that all four teams are level on one point, so we start from zero again,” said Marquez during the post-match press conference. In the other group game, Singapore drew with Hong Kong, resulting in all four teams having the same points after their first matches.
India went into the contest on a high, having beaten the Maldives 3-0 in an international friendly at the same venue last week. It was India’s first international win in 489 days and also the maiden victory under the current head coach Marquez. Captain Sunil Chhetri also returned to the national team.
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“If you ask me, maybe today is the most difficult press conference of my career because I don’t want to say all the things that are in my head at this moment. We played a bad game and that’s all. In the second half we tried, but not enough,” said a visibly frustrated Marquez.
40-year-old, who scored a goal against Maldives, had retired from national duties last year but reversed his decision ahead of the Maldives game. India (World No. 126) is ranked 59 places above Bangladesh (World No. 185) in the FIFA men’s team rankings.
“My feeling is that when we started in Hyderabad against Mauritius with one training session, things improved with every game. But today, we took two or three steps back,” Marquez said.
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