There were rumours of a change in the Indian football coach’s position in the face of the team’s continuous failures. The farewell bell for Spanish coach Manolo Marquez has finally rung. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has sealed the news of the head coach’s departure.
Manolo has resigned from the post of coach of the Indian football team. All India Football Association joint secretary K Satyanarayana told news agency PTI, “AIFF and Manolo have taken this decision through joint discussions. The advertisement for the new coach will be given very soon.”
Indian media reports say that no matter how much the AIFF talks about joint discussions, no one was happy with Manolo. It is learnt that the footballers also objected. His style of play was not working. Manolo was also the coach of FC Goa in the ISL along with the Indian team. As a result, the question arose as to which team he was giving more importance to. Manolo expressed his desire to resign after the loss to Hong Kong. Finally, the federation accepted it.
Manolo was given the responsibility after Igor Stimac stepped down as India coach. Under his coaching, India played a total of eight matches. They won only one. That too was a friendly match against Maldives. India drew against Bangladesh in the 2027 Asian Cup qualification round. Sunil Chhetri and his team even lost to Hong Kong. There are doubts whether India will be able to qualify for the Asian Cup or not. In this situation, the coach was removed.
