Kolkata: Hands on hips after a sharp swish through the air, Manolo Marquez looked frustrated. On the touchline for the first time as India coach, he would have realised how much needs to be done following the 0-0 draw against Mauritius, ranked 55 places below at 179, in the Intercontinental Cup opener in Hyderabad.

“It is difficult to play worse than today,” Marquez told the official broadcasters on Tuesday. The only way, therefore, is up, said the Spaniard. India meet Syria on Monday.

September was when India were supposed to bask in the afterglow of a third round berth in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The campaign had started on a bright note with an away win, India’s first in over 20 years in the World Cup qualifiers. And then, they fell with a thud against Afghanistan.

Hopes were revived against a young Qatar side before injudicious refereeing and a late winner meant Kuwait, not India, would qualify. So, while they play Jordan with an eye on 2026, India began preparations for the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. Under a new coach and after being taken to FIFA by his predecessor.

Marquez gave Chinglensana Singh his first India cap in nearly 18 months and the centre-back obliged with a solid shift. He could even have scored had he managed to head Manvir Singh’s headed pass to Anirudh Thapa’s corner. Ashish Rai and Jay Gupta as full backs made it three out of four in defence who had either played under Marquez or is doing that.

Sahal Abdul Samad starting on the bench was a surprise as he had scored and won a penalty when he last played, in the Durand Cup final on Saturday. He came on at half-time, replacing Thapa, along with Nandhakumar Sekar who substituted Liston Colaco.

Colaco won free-kicks in dangerous areas but his deliveries didn’t pose problems. Lallianzuala Chhangte came into the game a little late but it was his flick for Rai in the 17th minute that would have produced India’s first chance but for a smart interception by Emmanuel Jean.

Only two training sessions going into the match meant India’s superior possession didn’t translate into a testing goalkeeper Jean Luis Obrian till he had to leave charge and deny Manvir Singh in the 37th minute after Thapa had found his club mate. Chhangte began the second half with an excellent turn that freed up acreage but the delivery was intercepted by Obrian before it could reach Singh.

Used as wingback at Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Singh started as striker. It is bad enough to have Sunil Chhetri – this was India’s first match at home since he had retired – as the benchmark for excellence in that position. What increased the difficulty quotient for Singh was that he needed to make the adjustment from delivering into the box to receiving them in three days.

Early in the season, India lacked finesse in front and fitness against a team that had trained three weeks. Samad danced into the area but couldn’t deliver and when he did, Sekar was easily stopped by Jean Francois. It was the story of the night. Mauritius threatened during a second-half spell but their best chance came in the 37th minute when Jean grazed then horizontal with a long-ranger.

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