"It is difficult to play worse than today."
Manolo Marquez's blunt assessment of his first game in charge of the Indian national football team was the perfect summary of a goalless draw against Mauritius. The visitors, also dealing with a new coaching regime, and ranked 55 spots below India in the FIFA rankings proved to be stubborn opponents as captain Lyndsay Rose turned in a man-of-the-match performance in the Mauritian defence.
Much was expected from Marquez's first game in charge, especially after he made plenty of changes and named a bold lineup, but it was familiar failings for the Indian national team. The visitors caused some consternation in the early moments, via the running of FC Augsburg youngster, 17-year-old Quentin Rao Jasper Lalsing, but India managed to see off their forays forward.
India then grew into the game and came close via an early set-piece - Chinglensana Singh inches away from converting at the far post after a cleverly worked corner. Marquez had noted that he'd only had two days of training and only worked on set-pieces, and it seemed to have had an immediate impact as India looked threatening from corners all night.
However, in keeping with a Marquez side, India also had plenty of joy down the wings, with Anirudh Thapa coming close to connecting with a cross, but missing by inches. Lallianzuala Chhange also put Manvir Singh through on goal with a clever pass, and he forced a good save with a rasping shot - India's only effort on target in the whole game.
The second half was much of the same - India earning plenty of joy down the wings, especially when Jay Gupta sent in a low cross that found Thapa in the box, but his touch was heavy and fell to a static Manvir in the box and Mauritius were able to clear. It typified India's display all night, as the players lacked sharpness in the final moments and were unable to convert plenty of promising positions on the counter-attack. Mauritius were similarly wasteful, and with India tiring as the game went on, their substitutes spurned some promising chances.
Ultimately, both teams looked unlikely to find a winner as the game ticked over into the final minutes, with it ending goalless.
India will need a much improved display against Syria, but the blessing for their new coach is that they have six days to get better.
As Marquez said "From here, we will grow."
What they said:
Manolo Marquez:
"We finished very tired. It's clear that it's pre-season, it's clear that we didn't train. It's a good game in terms of that we didn't concede and the effort of the players. It's a good game because, from here, it is difficult to play worse that today. From here, we will grow."
"We need to play more. If we want to arrive, we need to play closer between the players - close support. If you check the last game, the team finished very tired because the team played very long. Finally, when you play with a lot of distance [between players] it's about physicality. And physically, we know that India, historically, has problems."
"We need to keep going. I told in my first press conference that the clear target is to arrive in the best possible condition to the first game of the Asian Cup qualifiers. Obviously we need to improve in all areas and I am completely convinced we will do it."
You can relive the game, as it happened, on our live blog below: