Intercontinental Cup: Tough job for Marquez to manage expectations

The twin triumph in the Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Championship around the same time last year, under Igor Stimac, had created an air of optimism about Indian football. As things are back on Square One again, the new Spanish coach Manolo Marquez has his task cut out to turn things around for the Blue Tigers as the defending champions begin their campaign against Mauritius at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

A lot has changed in the last one year — Marquez’s predecessor has moved FIFA to realise his dues after being sacked rather unceremoniously for India’s failure to progress beyond the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the talismanic captain Sunil Chettri is also not there to act as the troubleshooter.

It’s in this context that journeyman Marquez, who will have the unique task of balancing his two responsibilities with the national team as well as Goa FC in the upcoming ISL, will have to manage the expectations.    

‘’I am very excited. It’s special to play the first game here in Hyderabad. It feels like a new stadium now with the new facilities here,’’ Márquez said at the pre-match press conference on Monday. The City of Charminar, meanwhile, brings happy memories for the battle scarred coach as this is where Marquez started his journey in India with Hyderabad FC five years back and guided them to their only ISL title in his very second year.

Dress rehearsal

The Intercontinental Cup provides a great dress rehearsal for the bigger task awaiting India in the coming year: the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. ‘’The main target of playing these games in September, October and November is to prepare for the more important thing — the Asian Cup qualifiers, whose first game is in March 2025.

‘’The first FIFA window now is a little tricky because we are still in pre-season. Some clubs played with their reserve teams in the Durand Cup. We don’t exactly know the physical situation of all the players. That won’t happen in the next FIFA windows because the ISL will be ongoing. But again, I think this is not an excuse. We are ready for tomorrow,’’ the new coach said.

The Blue Tigers held their first training session on a rainy Sunday evening at the Hyderabad FC training ground. They have one more session due on Monday before lacing up their boots for the Mauritius clash. However, Márquez is no mood to complain about it.

‘’We’ll have only two training sessions before the first game. But I feel that when there’s a new coach and new staff, the predisposition is good. It’s about the attitude of the players and I’m convinced that will be very good. These are the fixtures and we can’t control them. It’s not about excuses. We can’t waste time with them. We trained yesterday, we’ll train today and we’ll be ready for tomorrow,’’ the Spaniard said.

After Tuesday's match, Mauritius will face the third participants of the tournament, Syria on 6 September. India will then face Syria on 9 September in the last match. The team with most points after all three matches will be crowned champions of the tournament.

The match will kick off at 7.30 pm IST and will be broadcast/streamed live on Jio Sports.