India look for win in Malaysia friendly fire

HYDERABAD: In the five months Manolo Marquez has overseen the Indian football team, they have played three friendlies and are yet to register a win.

The Spaniard will get another shot at his first victory as coach on Monday, when India take on Malaysia in a Fifa international friendly at the GMC Balayogi stadium.

Marquez is back on familiar turf. He had coached Hyderabad FC in the ISL a few years ago and his first outing as India's manager at the Intercontinental Cup was also at this venue.

However, Marquez' journey with the team has not been smooth. Sunil Chhetri retired before the Spaniard took over and he hardly had any training days before India's first assignment in September. India drew with Mauritius and suffered a 0-3 loss to Syria in the Intercontinental Cup and played out a 1-1 draw with Vietnam in an away game in October.

India's last win was on Nov 16 last year -a 1-0 win over Kuwait in the World Cup Qualifier - and it has been a series of disappointing results ever since, seven losses in 11 outings.