Soumo Ghosh

AIFF Media Team

HYDERABAD: India’s first match with Manolo Márquez as the head coach, showed signs of movement toward an upward trajectory; though it left fans wanting for more from the team.  A clean sheet forged by a solid defence, was the highlight of the stalemate against Mauritius.

The Blue Tigers’ head coach, however, was mindful that improvement does not come from a flick of a button. Rather, it is a long and winding road.

“My feeling is that our first game was rather boring (for the fans), but I cannot criticise the attitude of the players, who gave 100 percent,” said the Spanish coach. “We could only get two training sessions, though that is not an excuse. The best thing is that I saw the players put in all the effort and that we did not concede.

“We had a few good performances, and there are a few other things that we need to correct, but it’s a good point to grow from,” he said.

The Blue Tigers will play Syria on September 9 in their next match of the Intercontinental Cup, a match that could decide the fate of the three-team competition.

Five days away from the crucial tie, Márquez is on a mission to find the correct combinations.

“Right now, it’s not about finding the best players. It’s more about figuring out the right combinations in different areas of the pitch, and how we can manage different situations as a team,” said Márquez.

“One position where we are quite well settled is that of the centre-backs. Rahul (Bheke) and Sana (Konsham Chinglensana Singh) had a very good game against Mauritius, and there are more like Sandesh (Jhingan), Anwar (Ali), Mehtab (Singh), and others waiting on the sidelines,” said Márquez.

Bheke, one of the standout performers for India against Mauritius, had a rather special night on September 3. The 33-year-old had the opportunity to lead the national team out with the captain’s armband for the first time.

“It was certainly a proud moment for my family and me. I’m honoured to have been handed that responsibility, and now I certainly crave it more,” said Bheke.

The India defender echoed his coach’s words and felt that step-by-step improvement is the way forward for the Blue Tigers.

“We’re staying positive. We’ve had our first point under the new head coach, and we’ve done a lot of things well. The only area we need to work on is the conversion of goals. We must focus, and score the goals,” said Bheke. “The coach had a clear idea of how we needed to play, and the boys tried hard to implement them. We have to make sure that we just keep doing it better in the next game.”

Syria will take on Mauritius in the next match of the Intercontinental Cup on September 6 (to be streamed live on Jio Cinema), followed by the game between India and Syria on September 9 (to be broadcast live on Sports 18 3 and streamed live on Jio Cinema). Both matches will kick-off at 7.30 pm IST.