Head coach Marquez aims for his first win in India-Vietnam friendly

NAM DINH: Head coach Manolo Marquez will seek his first win with Team India in an international friendly against Vietnam here on Saturday which was originally planned as a Tri-Nation tournament before Lebanon's withdrawal.

Lebanon pulled out, citing difficulties in flying out of the country due to the ongoing crisis at home. The tournament was planned in the FIFA international match window from October 7-15.

Originally, India were scheduled to play against Vietnam on October 9 and Lebanon on October 12 in the tournament at the Thien Truong Stadium here, around 100 km from Hanoi.

In In Marquez's two matches as head coach so far, India drew against Mauritius and lost 0-3 to Syria in the Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad last month as the Spaniard will be eager to log his first victory on Saturday.

Ranked 116th, Vietnam are 10 spots higher than India (126th) in the FIFA rankings.

The two teams have faced each other three times since the start of the current century.

In 2004, Vietnam defeated India 1-2 in the LG Cup in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2010, former captain Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick as the Blue Tigers won 3-1 in Pune. Their last encounter was in 2022, when Vietnam won 3-0 against the Igor Stimac-coached India in Ho Chi Minh City.

"It's obviously very good for us to play here in Vietnam. They are a team who have qualified for the final round of the World Cup qualifiers in the past and we know about their development in recent years. They will be a difficult opponent for us, but I think it will be equally tough for them too," the head coach said at the pre-match press conference.

Marquez believes his wards are in better physical shape now than last month.

"Obviously, physically we are better than when we were in pre-season. There are still some players who are performing well but they are not here. We're still in the beginning of the season. I don't want to talk much about the ones who are not here," said Manolo.

"If you speak with 20 people, all of them will give you a different list. We called these players because we think they are the best to play against Vietnam," he added.

The Indian squad has a couple of new names like left-back Aakash Sangwan and 21-year-old midfielder Lalrinliana Hnamte, who have earned their first national team call-ups.

Farukh Choudhary has made his way back in the Blue Tigers squad after three years.

"In one way, it's worse because you play only one game. In another way, it's better because you have a little more time to prepare. If we had to play on the 9th, practically, we would've had only two training sessions before the game.

"At least now we'll have four or five sessions. I think the players can better understand our philosophy. Let's see if that's enough or not. But that's normal when you play with the national team.

"You need to have some sessions under your belt before a match," the coach said.

The players were doing their club duty in the Indian Super League which will pause for around 10 days during the FIFA international match window.

"Vietnam are also in a similar situation as us. Their league season is also four-five games old, so we arrive in similar conditions. I think the team which wins this will prove they are better than the other, at least in this game."

Kickoff: 4.30pm IST.