This game could well mark the end of the Manolo Marquez era. And may I say it isn’t a bad thing for Indian football. It has been the worst one year for the national team and someone who was negotiating and agreeing with FC Goa was clearly not interested in the India job. Or he had seen the writing on the wall. Either way, Manolo wasn’t on it 100 per cent and it will be better for the AIFF to look beyond him.
Three years back India beat Hong Kong 4-0. Today, they lost 0-1 to the 153rd ranked side. Pathetic is an understatement. No goal-scorer, no field play, no vision – Indian football is a rudderless ship at the moment.
And Manolo couldn’t do anything to stem the rot. For the longest time he was with the ISL club and was making guest appearances for India. Then, he was enjoying his Super Cup success, a tournament that has lost all its sheen. And thereafter he rejoined the Indian set-up, ending his tenure with today’s shock result.
The problem is AIFF wouldn’t care. They have their own problems and are looking to the Supreme Court for direction. Players don’t really know what to do and the sport is just going from bad to worse. When you see sports like chess and compare it with football, you know how bad India is. Things just don’t get better and will not in the future.
Uzbekistan and Jordan qualify for the World Cup while India continue to lose to Hong Kong. And we will still gloat over substandard players who are paid salaries much more than say hockey where we are Olympic medal winners.
The sport needs an infusion of new ideas. It is in dire need of some optimism. Clearly Manolo isn’t the man for it. In fact, his tenure was a disaster and the worst ever. With the AIFF no better, one shudders to think where the sport will go from here. For the moment, it is another dark night with nothing really in sight to say things can get better.
