PREVIEW
The highs and lows for Indian football, in the last year, resemble a transverse wave.
It peaked with the excitement of playing in a second successive Asian Cup in January and fell to its lowest in June after being eliminated from the race for the next World Cup, dropping to its worst FIFA ranking in seven years as a result.
The grandstands, which fans once filled even on foreign soil, now remain deserted and the football is lacklustre.
Under new coach Manolo Marquez, the Blue Tigers did little to their fortune as they failed in their Intercontinental Cup defence in his first tournament in charge.
But life is about second chances and the Spaniard will hope to get a second bite of the cherry on the same ground, Gachibowli Stadium, against Malaysia in an international friendly on Monday.
Marquez has been here before. In his first eight games in charge of Hyderabad FC (in the 2020-21 season), he won just twice and lost three consecutive games. But in the next 12 games, the Nizams never lost a game and in the following season, they did the unthinkable by winning the Indian Super League (ISL) title.
READ FULL PREVIEW | India vs Malaysia: Manolo Marquez seeks morale-boosting first win with Blue Tigers
PREDICTED LINEUPS
India: Gurpreet (gk), Bheke, Anwar, Mehtab, Jay, Fernandes, Suresh, Apuia, Farukh, Chhangte, Vikram
Malaysia: Hazmi (gk), Davies, Cools, Haikal, Ra’op, Yahya, Josue, Laine, Rasid, Ahmad, Hanapi
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