Newly appointed Indian men’s football team coach Manolo Marquez is aware that his days at the helm of Indian football will be full of challenges.
Marquez believes it is “very difficult” to find a replacement for Sunil Chettri, who scored 94 goals in 151 games for the Indian national team and led the team from the front.
His international exit has created a huge void in Indian football and the first and foremost challenge for Marquez will be to fill that gap as the team looks to build towards the future.
“It is very difficult to find a player who can score more than 90 goals for the national team… We need to find not just a replacement for Sunil Chhetri, we need to find the right players who can play as a team,” Marquez told Asian News International (ANI) on Sunday, August 11.
Marquez is not just focusing on the senior men’s team, but is also emphasising the growth of players at the grassroots level to nurture emerging talent and accelerate the overall development of Indian football.
The Spanish coach wants India to grow by leaps and bounds at the international level just as it has done in cricket.
“We need to improve the standard of Indian football in all aspects, from grassroots to national level… In cricket, India has a very good team, but India needs to have top-class teams in more sports apart from cricket. We need to find talented players,” he added.
India, once part of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) top 100 teams, has now dropped to 124th position.
Neighbouring Asian countries such as China (87th), Saudi Arabia (56th) and Afghanistan (55th) rank much higher in the rankings compared to India.
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