The All India Football Federation announced on Saturday, 20 July that Manolo Marquez will be taking over the Indian football team. After the appointment, Marquez said that he wanted success for millions of Indian fans.
Manolo Marquez is the new head coach of the Indian team. (Getty Images)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Jul 20, 2024 19:28 IST
The All India Football Federation put an end to all speculations about who was going to take over as the next Indian football team head coach. On Saturday, 20 July, the AIFF named FC Goa manager Manolo Marquez as the boss of the Indian team. The regulatory body, which was lambasted by the previous manager Igor Stimac announced the decision via an official press release.
Marquez, who is well versed with Indian football found success with Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League. After that, he was appointed as the head coach of FC Goa where he played a flamboyant style of football. Speaking via an official press release, Marquez called India his second home and said that he has always found a connect with Indian people and culture.
“It's an honour for me to be the National Football Team coach of India, a country I consider my second home. India and its people are something I feel attached to and I feel a part of since I first came to this beautiful country. I want to do my best to bring success to the millions of fans we have. I am very grateful to FC Goa for allowing us the flexibility to help the national team during the coming season while I am still the club’s head coach. I'm grateful to the AIFF for this opportunity and we hope to do great things for football,” Marquez said via the press release.
WHO IS MANOLO MARQUEZ?
Aged 55, Manolo Marquez has extensive knowledge and experience of Indian football and coaching national team players, especially youngsters. Many national team players in the last few years were called up from his Hyderabad FC team.
Marquez has been coaching in India since 2020. He has coached two ISL clubs – his first stint was with Hyderabad FC (2020-23), before he switched over to FC Goa (2023-present). He is an ISL Cup winner with Hyderabad FC in 2021-22. Overall, Marquez had an extensive coaching career in Spain – Las Palmas (top division) and Las Palmas B, Espanyol B, Badalona, Prat, Europa (third division).
Published By:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published On:
Jul 20, 2024
English (US) ·