Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team

HYDERABAD: The Indian senior men's national team, on Tuesday, began their training camp ahead of the friendly match against Malaysia on November 18 in Hyderabad. With the Indian Super League going into a break as the November FIFA international window started, the Blue Tigers checked into Hyderabad on Monday evening and will have a total of six days of training sessions before the match.

India head coach Manolo Márquez shared his opinion on playing a single friendly match and having more training days as a result. "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."

Márquez had a rough start to his national team coaching career in September as India were held 0-0 by Mauritius and beaten 0-3 by Syria in the Intercontinental Cup, also in Hyderabad. His boys put up an improved showing, especially in the second half, against Vietnam in a 1-1 draw last month in Nam Định.

"We were supposed to play two games last month but due to external reasons, Lebanon couldn't come. For people, more games is better. But it's difficult to train the day before and after the match. We need to train tactically as well. I feel it's necessary to prepare for not just the game against Malaysia but the official matches which will come in March," Márquez added.

The Spaniard has continued the trend of calling up new players in each FIFA window so far. This time, Hmingthanmawia Ralte, Vibin Mohanan, Irfan Yadwad and Thoiba Singh Moirangthem earned their first national team call-ups. The latter was a last-minute arrival after Anirudh Thapa suffered an injury during the match between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Odisha FC on Sunday.

Since taking charge in July, Márquez's priority has been to utilise the friendly matches and training sessions to find the best group of players for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, scheduled to start in March 2025.

"It's true that we want to check some new players. But obviously it's impossible to change the whole group and call 40 players in March. It's true that we are finding the group. It means that we have maybe 14, 15, 16 players who will be there, but we don't know exactly. And there are a lot of players who can get there. Obviously, it's still four months, and the situation can change with a lot of things unfortunately with injuries and the players' domestic form. But, I repeat again, as a coach you need to find the group which can play the style that we want.

"I am fully focussed 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 Márquez.

Still awaiting his first win with India, Márquez is patient and not too desperate at the moment. For now, the key is to find the right groove with the right bunch and get results where they matter the most.

"Obviously 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 superb. 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. The Malaysia game is the last friendly window before the official games."