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

Manolo Marquez On The Match Against Malaysia

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

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During this international break, the Blue Tigers will play just one match, with the head 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 the (November) window. Everyone knows that national teams don’t get enough time to train. I feel we’re still in the beginning stage. This is only going to be our fourth game. My feeling is that the improvement in the last game was big and we need to continue in this line,” Marquez told AIFF.com.

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

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

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

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

“I am fully focused on the Malaysia match at the moment. In a way, it’s a dangerous game because the players are in the middle of the fight for the ISL and this is just one friendly game in November, and the 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 the head coach.

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

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