Manolo Marquez questioned the level of Indian football after their goalless draw against lower-ranked Bangladesh. And the coach was not wrong in making that controversial statement. Indian football — its players, national team, and federation — seems to be stuck in a rut.
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Igor Stimac took the Indian football team to the brink of qualifying for the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the first time but ultimately failed, falling miserably at the end after struggling against lower-ranked sides. His team struggled against weaker opponents as
players consistently underperformed in these crucial games.
‘Failed’ is a harsh word to use, especially for those who give their all on the pitch. Wearing the blue jersey is the greatest privilege for a professional footballer in this country, and no one underperforms intentionally. But in this case, nothing less than harsh will suffice. Those who have followed the Indian football team closely know how inexplicably and sharply performances declined from 2023 to 2024. This slump ultimately led to the exit of Stimac, who, by the end of his tenure, had lost his charisma and the ability to inspire a worthy performance from his players.
The wheels turned, and in came Manolo Marquez —
by popular demand.
Ten months into the job, these were his words after the Blue Tigers huffed and puffed
to a goalless draw against Bangladesh, a team ranked 59 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
“I am very angry, disappointed with everyone. I do not have words for this poor performance. This is not enough, maybe this is the reality of Indian football,” he said on Tuesday after a lacklustre display from Sandesh Jhingan and Co — a performance that must have left the nearly 15,000-strong crowd in the stadium
questioning their decision to turn up.
He didn’t just question the quality of Indian football; he also pointed out in the post-match press conference that the team’s performance against Bangladesh had set them back at least a couple of steps.
Once again, the coach’s ability to get the best out of his players comes under scrutiny. But let’s not forget the caveat — short national camps, multiple injuries, and a supply line that isn’t under his control.
The real question has to be asked to the players and the national football federation — AIFF.
Are the players giving their best, or have we hyped them too much? Is the federation doing enough to ensure that we keep growing as a footballing nation and that the supply of quality talent continues unabated?
Against Bangladesh, India could have gone down 1-0 as early as five seconds into the match when goalkeeper Vishal Kaith found Mojibor Jony with his pass and left the goal gaping. Thankfully, the Bangladesh midfielder was in no mood to score. Kaith would commit more blunders, once forcing Subhasish Bose to make a goalline save.
Shariar Emon and Rakib Hossain had a brilliant game, beating Indian defenders for fun and proving to be Jhingan and Rahul Bheke’s nightmares.
A draw is a result that must have left the Bangladesh team gutted, considering how close they came on multiple occasions to taking the lead and how sloppy India were with their shape, passing and overall intensity.
Is India still the best team in South Asia?
Most importantly, their finishing let them down, once again. Bangladesh are rapidly closing the gap with India, and while there seems to be little difference in the quality of homegrown players from both teams, Bangladesh had their weak moments. That was when India should have capitalised — but they didn’t.
Liston Colaco fought hard, Farukh Choudhary also did well and Boris Singh Thangjam, Subhasish Bose, and Apuia were among the few bright spots for India. But none of them could convert their chances. Not even Sunil Chhetri, despite getting multiple opportunities after reversing his international retirement at 40 to help India find the back of the net.
This brings us back to the key question: Are the players and the Indian football ecosystem progressing as expected? Are they improving at the rate they should, or are they actually regressing? Recent results suggest the latter. If this decline continues, then forget the World Cup — even qualifying for the Asian Cup will once again become a distant dream.