India’s 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign began with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Bangladesh on Tuesday, March 25th, a result that left head coach Manolo Marquez visibly disappointed and lamenting a step backwards for his team.
The match, played in Shillong’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, saw India, the group’s top seed, struggle to break down a resilient Bangladesh side ranked 59 places below them. It marked the first goalless draw between the two nations in 26 years.
Bangladesh created opportunities throughout the match, nearly capitalizing on an early error from India goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, whose misplaced clearance went straight to Md. Mojibor Jony, who subsequently hit the side netting. India failed to assert control and Marquez described the overall performance as “sloppy.”
“Maybe today is the most difficult press conference of my career because I don’t want to say all the things that are in my head at this moment,” Marquez admitted post-match. “My feeling is that when we started in Hyderabad against Mauritius with one training session, things improved with every game. But today, we took two or three steps back.”
Marquez criticized the team’s approach: “There’s no question of experience or inexperience — it’s about how you enter a game. In this case, it was the goalkeeper’s mistake, but in reality, every single player struggled… overall, it was a very bad game. The only positive is that we got a point.”
With only the group winner guaranteed a spot in the Asian Cup finals, the dropped points against the lowest-ranked team represent a significant setback for India’s qualification hopes. However, the other group match between Singapore and Hong Kong also ended in a 0-0 draw, leaving all four teams level on one point after the first round of fixtures.
“We didn’t even defend well. I am really angry and disappointed. The best thing is that all four teams are level on one point, so we start from zero again,” Marquez added.
India will look to regroup before their next qualifier against Hong Kong (China) in June. Several players will now return to their Indian Super League (ISL) clubs for the knockout stages, while Marquez will resume his duties as head coach of FC Goa. He also subtly questioned the timing of the qualifiers, suggesting it might not have been ideal immediately following the FIFA international window.
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