The newly appointed head coach of the Indian men's football team Manolo Marquez is aware of the fact that his days at the helm of Indian football are going to be full of challenges.
Marquez feels that it is "very difficult" to find a replacement for Sunil Chettri. Chhetri scored 94 goals in 151 appearances for the Indian national team and led the side from the front.
His international exit has created a massive void in Indian football and the first and foremost challenge for Marquez will be to fill that gap as the team looks to build towards the future.
"It is very difficult to find one player who can score more than 90 goals in the national team...We need to find not only a replacement for Sunil Chhetri, we have to find the correct players who can play as a team," Marquez told the news agency Asian News International (ANI) on Sunday, August 11.
Marquez is not solely focusing on the senior men's team. He emphasized the growth of players at the grassroots level to nurture the budding talent and fast-track the overall development of Indian football.
The Spanish coach wants India to grow in leaps and bounds at the international level just like it has in cricket.
"We need to improve the level of Indian football in every aspect from the grassroots to the national level...In cricket, India has a very good team but India needs to have top teams in more sports apart from cricket. We need to find talented players," he added.
Once a part of the top 100 teams in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), India have now slipped down to the 124th position.
Neighbouring Asian countries like China (87th), Saudi Arabia (56th) and Afghanistan (55th) are placed way higher on the ladder compared to India.
