Asian Cup qualifying: Coach says football team needs to improve quickly

Angry and disappointed with India’s draw against Bangladesh in the Asian Cup qualifying, head coach Manolo Marquez on Tuesday made it clear that his side need a lot of improvement if they are to qualify for the continental showpiece.

India were held 0-0 by lower-ranked Bangladesh in their opening Group C match of the qualifying third round match on March 25 in Shillong. India are up against Hong Kong in their second match — an away game — on June 10. The team started its training camp on Monday.

“We need to improve a lot because I felt that the team was going forward in every FIFA window except the last,” Marquez said. “It’s true that for the game against Bangladesh, we lost very important starting players. But it’s not an excuse for our poor performance in that game. We need to be aware that we have a difficult game in Hong Kong. We have time to prepare, to be competitive and try to win and get the three points.”

The third team in Group C is Singapore. Only the top team after six home and away matches qualifies for the continental showpiece. Singapore and Hong Kong also played out a 0-0 draw in their opening Group C match. So, there’s nothing to separate the four sides after the opening match day.