India 0-0 Bangladesh: ‘Maybe this is the sad reality of Indian football’ | Football News

India’s Farukh Choudhary, left, and Bangladesh’s Shekh Morsalin vie for the ball during the AFC Asian Cup qualifier football match between India and Bangladesh, in Shillong, Meghalaya. (Image: @IndianFootball/X)

Shillong: Despite all the hype surrounding a Sunil Chhteri-Hamza Choudhury faceoff, all that the 14,952 fans gathered at JN Stadium here on Tuesday witnessed was a scrappy goalless draw.
India head coach Manolo Marquez did not mince his words when he declared at the post-match press conference, “Maybe today (Tuesday) is the most difficult press conference in my career since I don’t want to say all the things that are in my head at this moment.”
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While the coach refused to give excuses for India’s dismal show in their opening home fixture of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier, one could gauge all that might be running in the Spaniard’s head in a game that began with goalkeeper Vishal Kaith passing a regulation pass straight to the opposition winger and culminating in veteran Chhetri — called back from retirement by Marquez to aid India’s qualifying hopes — glancing a header wide and narrowly missing out.
“I don’t want to talk too much, because I am very angry, disappointed with the performance of everyone, and it also must include that of the coach. I don’t have words to explain this poor, poor performance from everyone,” said Marquez. “This is not enough. But maybe this is the reality of Indian football.”
The only bright spot for the hosts — apart from the intent shown by Liston Colaco, Boris Singh Thangjam and, occasionally, Farukh Choudhary — was that the other match in the group between Hong Kong and Singapore also ended in a stalemate, keeping all four teams level on one point each. So, in June when India travel to take on the 155th ranked Hong Kong, it would be a chance for a fresh start to their Saudi Arabia dream.
While Marquez was not ready to give excuses, the end of the club season in April-end or the beginning of May, could give him and his wards the much-needed preparation and recovery time that they lacked in the lead-up to the Bangladesh first leg.
“We can speak several hours about this one competition that you play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And the players arrive at the national team with two days to go. Some may have played two days ago, another seven days ago and another five days ago. These may be called excuses, but the reality is that the physical condition is not the same if you played yesterday or one week ago,” said the coach, “But this is not the reason that we played a bad game today.”
India were also lucky that Bangladesh failed to take advantage of the errors made in the Indian defence and the visiting coach rued the chance to change their recent stats against India and claim all three points.
“Unfortunately, we missed clear chances, and we should have scored,” Javier Cabrera said at his post-match interaction. “But we must be positive. If we can get those chances away against India, the strongest team in the group, we can do better against the others. But it’s clear today that we are a contender to qualify for Asian Cup.
“That is what we must believe in and then make it happen,” he added.
Hamza Choudhury revels in playing for ‘home’ team

Hamza Choudhury (Photo Source: X)

Having represented U-21 England, where he was born, Hamza Choudhury made his first start for the country of his mother’s origin here on Tuesday, having officially made the switch at international level in December last year.
“Oh, I was so proud when the national anthem began,” Choudhury, who has 50 caps for Leicester City in the Premier League, said after the match. “It gave me goosebumps.”
It marks the first time ever a Premier League footballer played for Bangladesh.
It could be Choudhury’s crowning achievement in an already promising career that included captaining his boyhood club Leicester and then becoming the first player of Bangladeshi origin to lift the FA Cup with the Premier League club in 2019.
Choudhury used his platform to show solidarity for Palestine, just as he wishes to do in inspiring more South Asian representation in English football. And on Tuesday, although the 27-year-old focused on strengthening the Bangladesh backline, the motivation his teammates felt in his presence lifted the team’s game.
“More than his qualities as a player, it’s his quality as a teammate that gives the team so much confidence,” coach Javier Cabrera said in the post-match interaction.
His quality as a player was certainly evident in glimpses, especially while marking veteran Sunil Chhetri, but Choudhury — true to his personality — was quick to play down his influence upon the team.
“We are actually strongest as a team. We are all looking out for one another,” he said. “I will do better for the team in the upcoming matches. I was just with the team for the last five days, which is a very short period,” further added Choudhury.