Manolo Marquez ahead of India vs Mauritius: "The main thing is to prepare for Asian Cup qualifiers"

The Indian Men's football team head coach Manolo Marquez and player Roshan Singh Naorem attended the pre-match press conference before the season opener in the Intercontinental Cup against Mauritius on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad.

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Head coach Manolo said, "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 main target of playing these games in September, October and November is to prepare for the more important thing - the Asian Cup qualifiers, the first game of which is in March.

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"The first FIFA window now is a little tricky because we are still in pre-season. Some clubs played with their reserve team 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," he added.

India will face Mauritius in the first match tomorrow at 7.30 pm IST.