India, July 26 -- Manolo Marquez thought he knew football in India. And then the national team happened.

An ISL title followed by successive semi-final berths had made Marquez think that "more or less I know Indian football". By 2024, he also thought his "capacity to improvise" was a lot better than when he first came to India as Hyderabad FC head coach in 2020. So, while on holiday in Canary Islands, Marquez applied for the national team's job after Igor Stimac was sacked. "It was my dream," he said.

Soon, it curled leading to the mutual separation with All India Football Federation (AIFF) earlier this month. In eight matches as India head coach, five of them against countries lower in the FIFA ranking, Marquez had one win, four draws ...