Manolo Marquez says India should have been more brave after loss against Hong Kong

India’s head coach Manolo Marquez reckons his players could have played better with the ball and be more brave after their 1-0 loss against Hong Kong at the Kai Tak Stadium in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Tuesday. 

Substitute Stefan Pereira scored late for the home team to give them all three points. Ashique Kuruniyan had a golden opportunity to score for the Blue Tigers but his attempted shot went wide.

The Spaniard said a draw would have been a fair result but they could not grab their chances.

“I think that the game was practically without (clear) chances. The most clear chance was for Ashique in the first half. One action in the injury time. Clear penalty.. Two teams were fighting without too many chances. Both teams defended with order and one action (and they scored). This is football. I seriously feel that a fair score was a draw or if we scored the clear chance, let’s see. But if you score before, you know in these kinds of games, it’s very important,” Marquez said in the post-match press conference.

Earlier, India played a goalless draw against Bangladesh in March in their opening match of the qualifiers and Marquez said they still have a chance to qualify despite only one point in two games.

“I was speaking to the Bangladesh coach in the first game. He has three years of coaching experience in Bangladesh. He told me that this group is very, very equal and he told me before our game. It was 0-0. Singapore, Hong Kong was 0-0. Today (against Hong Kong), the goal was in the last action of the game. I think there will be very difficult games but I still think that India has the possibility to qualify,” Marquez explained.

Marquez revealed what they could have done differently against Hong Kong. The gaffer said the players were a bit nervous and it led to their downfall.

“I cannot say anything negative about the players.. The attitude was there, the plan of the game was there. In some moments I felt we could have played better with the ball and be more brave. But this is about the situation that the team is not winning and the players are a little nervous. In some actions where the pass is clear, we are a little nervous,” Marquez expressed.