It's been an issue for writers covering the men's Indian national football team for a while: once a full 90 is done, what do you write? This may feel a bit self-indulgent a thought, but it's not... when it comes to this India team, there's simply very little to talk about.
India have lost another match, now what?
On Tuesday, for instance, you could say the Indian defence looked good, but that was also partly because Ashley Westwood's Hong Kong refused to play football for vast swathes of the game. Until, that is, Vishal Kaith channeled his inner Vijender Singh in the 92nd minute, and punched Michael Udebuluzor inside the India box. Stefan Pereira stepped up, and Bruno-Fernandes-ed a superb penalty in off the post. That was the only goal either side scored.
At the other end, India huffed-and-puffed and squandered three good chances and... that's it. In midfield, Apuia and Suresh Singh gave the team a bit of structure, ahead of them Brandon Fernandes pressed well (!), on the wings Liston Colaco and Lallianzuala Chhangte had a couple of decent moments, up top Ashique Kuruniyan ran. For the last half hour, Sunil Chhetri replaced Ashique and did much the same.
Manolo Marquez had come into the national team setup with a fair amount of optimism surrounding him, considering what we've seen from him in the Indian Super League, but there's not been much to cheer about since. He has been in charge for eight matches now and has won one and lost three of those. They've not scored a goal in five. If pressed, the one thing you'll remember from this tenure so far is that he called 40-year-old Sunil Chhetri and convinced him to come out of retirement.
In this escape-route round of Asian Cup qualifying (where only one team in four qualify), India have one point in two games and are last in the group. They are already staring at an uphill battle to keep their run of qualifying to the (expanded as it is) Asian Cup going.
They need to essentially now win their remaining four matches, but to do that, they need to score goals -- a phenomenon growing increasingly unfamiliar for the Indian football fan. Marquez's expressions on the sidelines of these matches have mirrored everything surrounding this current setup: Confusion, frustration, and a general sense of helplessness. Not the best combination if you're the one supposed to come up with the solutions.
Are there any answers?
Bengaluru FC owner blasts AIFF following India's defeat in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifier today pic.twitter.com/LUd9o4Udm3
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) June 10, 2025
National team coaches, for some time now, have complained about no one playing up top for top division Indian clubs. There are also cries for Persons of Indian Origin or Overseas Citizens of India to represent the national team, but that calls for a fundamental change in Indian citizenship law and that kind of thing takes times (besides, none of the PIOs or OCIs being talked about are strikers). Both, though, are long-term issues that will not fundamentally alter the course of this qualification right now.
In the now, there are tweaks the coach can make -- like have a more compact midfield and have the likes of Apuia and Suresh play higher up the field, sacrificing overt defensiveness for a bit of ambition in the opposition half. Or having the wingers invert more and attack with much more directness than we've seen so far.
Perhaps, though, what is need is a hard refresh, considering that this is the same group of players who have underperformed under two different managers. The same group of players that now seem to have lost the support of the mostly forgiving Indian football fan.
It won't be easy, but what's the harm in trying it?
In trying something completely out of the blue, like playing an untested Suhail Bhat up top (only because he's shown glimpses of poaching talent in the little we've seen of him in senior club football), or selecting a risk-taking central midfielder like Macarton Nickson, or having Chhangte play false nine with pacy wingers running in behind.
We saw Marquez try this harder reset very early on, before using the Chhetri fallback option, when he played Farukh Chaudhury up top for two games. India played those with a measure of fluidity and unpredictability. Why was that experiment abandoned so hastily?
The deeper you dig, the more the questions simply seem to mount.
Indian football has always been a place of great chaos and confusion but with so many things in the air domestically -- the I-league case in CAS, the uncertainty surrounding FSDL's extension with the ISL, the on-going case in the Supreme Court -- the abysmal run the national team is on just makes everything exponentially worse.
So, will this get better? Will India get more competitive in the four matches that remain across the next year? Will see India score a goal anytime soon?
Well, what can any of us do but wait and watch... and hope that the All India Football Federation, Manolo Marquez and the Indian national team footballers aren't doing the exact same thing?