Indian football: Winless in 2024, as Manolo Marquez’s men draw 1-1 against lower-ranked Malaysia

The antiaircraft midfield duo of Apuia Ralte and Suresh Singh enactment connected a tireless shift. There were besides signs that Marquez’s tactics and strategies were yet being enactment into enactment by the outfield players with the likes of Brandon Fernandes and Lallianzuala Chhangte combining good with the forwards.

.@RahulBheke's fiery header helps India 🇮🇳 gully 1-1 with Malaysia 🇲🇾

Report 🔗 https://t.co/LcOUnYdT90#INDMAS #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/kytBbyuW46

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) November 18, 2024

The hunt for a striker to regenerate the retired Sunil Chhetri is inactive precise overmuch connected and Marquez handed that work to debutant Irfan Yadwad. The towering Chennaiyin striker showed that helium could beryllium portion of the solution, moving into spaces, latching connected to crosses and putting unit connected the opponent’s defence. But arsenic has been the communicative this year, India simply struggled to find the eccentricity that is sometimes needed to triumph successful planetary football. Despite myriad crosses into the box, holding play and counters down the flanks, determination was thing objective and they paid for it.

Then there’s the howler which gave Malaysia the pb that Gurpreet wouldn’t ever privation to ticker the replay of. In the 19th minute, a Malaysian defender cleared the shot towards the Indian goal. Gurpreet came mode disconnected his enactment though determination wasn’t immoderate existent danger. Instead of waiting backmost and kicking oregon collecting it, helium decided to spell guardant and caput the shot but wholly misjudged the bounce. It went implicit his head, handing Malaysian guardant Paulo Josue a freebie. He conscionable controlled the shot with a interaction and tapped it into the bare nett with his near foot.

While India kept knocking connected the door, they managed to get their equaliser 20 minutes aboriginal acknowledgment to a superbly executed corner. Brandon’s footwear from the close recovered Rahul Bheke successful space, who calmly headed it into the net. Credit indispensable besides spell to India’s skipper of the nighttime Sandesh Jhingan. Returning to the nationalist squad aft astir a twelvemonth pursuing genu surgery, Jhingan did good to clasp 2 defenders, making abstraction for Bheke to marque his run.

It ends each quadrate successful Hyderabad.#INDMAS #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/mHfNxTNTgj

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) November 18, 2024

After the equaliser, India truly took the crippled to their opponents. Brandon, Farukh Choudhary, and Irfan combined good to make opportunities connected the left, but the Malaysian cardinal defence was coagulated too. Brandon and Chhangte whipped successful a assortment of crosses, but ne'er truly got the cleanable shot in. It was besides the lawsuit of Irfan being the lone people antheral up front.

As India cogwheel up for the Asian Cup qualifiers successful March adjacent year, they person to find a solution to this problem. With Indians not playing arsenic strikers for their clubs, having a lone striker for the nationalist squad tin get excessively demanding for the player. Most of the crosses that came successful had to beryllium perfectly placed for Irfan, and if it wasn’t— arsenic was the lawsuit connected Monday — it conscionable ended up falling successful nary man’s land.

Despite the drawn result, Marquez would person seen what his squad is susceptible of, particularly successful defence. But he’ll besides cognize that there’s plentifulness of enactment that needs to beryllium done and the hunt for a striker is conscionable the commencement of it.