Manolo Marquez shuts Indian football team's doors on I-League players?

Indian men's football team head coach Manolo Marquez may have just shut the doors to the national squad for players plying their trade in the I-League. India's 26-member squad for the friendly against Maldives (March 19) and the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh (March 25) is entirely made up of players from the first division, Indian Super League (ISL).

In response to a query about the quality of strikers in Indian football, Marquez made an interesting comment about the I-League, which implies that the head coach is not keen on promoting players from the second division.

"People speak about I-League, but there is a difference between I-League and ISL. The strongest position in India is ISL. To play 2, 3, 4, 5 good games in I-League is not enough; you need to perform good in ISL," Marquez told reporters on the eve of India's match against Maldives in Shillong.

Edmund Lalrindika, who plays for I-League club Inter Kashi's, was part of the senior squad in India's last six matches, since making his first appearance against Kuwait in June 2024.

Lalrindika made his debut under the previous national coach, Igor Stimac, and Marquez retained the 25-year-old in his squad until India's last outing, a friendly against Malaysia on November 19, 2024, in which he played 11 minutes.

The foreign striker problem
However, the problem isn't just the quality of the I-League but also the lack of opportunities for Indian strikers in the ISL. Marquez was asked about why he recalled 40-year-old striker Sunil Chhetri, who announced his international retirement a year ago.

The Spaniard justified his decision by putting out stats: "If you check the scorers in the ISL, it is clear who is the Indian player with the most goals." Chhetri is the leading Indian goalscorer in the top-flight (ISL) with 12 goals, six more than the next best.

There isn't another Indian in the top 20 of ISL scorers list this season, and Marquez, who also manages ISL side FC Goa, understands the situation clearly. "I'm coach of a club also. Even Sunil is not playing as a striker, he is playing as a winger, but inside.

"The reality is that in Indian football, there are strong strikers, but they are not starters... There are good strikers in ISL, but practically, they don't play; they play a few minutes.

"The other thing is that you play with foreigners in this position, so they (Indian strikers) play as wingers. Irfan (Yadwad), for example, is a striker. He is playing as a winger, but he is a striker," Marquez said.

The Spaniard's predecessors were more vocal about including I-League players in the national squad, provided they proved themselves with quality performances. Croatian Igor Stimac used to deputise his assistants to monitor I-League players. His only issue was that the I-League calendar wasn't in sync with the FIFA window.