Need to improve a lot: India coach Marquez

Sunil Chhetri (left) at a training session in Kolkata on Monday. Pic/AIFF X account

The Indian senior men's team kicked off their preparations for the June FIFA international window with a first training session in Kolkata on Monday.

India will face Thailand in a friendly in Pathum Thani on June 4 before the all-important AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifier against Hong Kong in Kowloon City on June 10.

Head coach Manolo Marquez believes his side improved in every FIFA window under his tenure barring the previous one. "We need to improve a lot because I felt that the team was going forward in every FIFA window except the last," Márquez said on the All India Football Federation's website.

While the March window did bring a 3-0 friendly win against Maldives, the Spaniard's first win as the Indian coach, a lacklustre 0-0 draw versus Bangladesh wasn't the ideal start to the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign.

"It's true that for the game against Bangladesh, we lost very important starting players. But it's not an excuse for our poor performance. We need to be aware that we have a difficult game in Hong Kong. We have to be competitive and try to win and get the three points," Marquez said.

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