India vs Vietnam Highlights: IND wrestle draw, Marquez remains winless

India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Speaking ahead of the match, Marquez said, “It’s obviously very good for us to play here in Vietnam. They are a team who have qualified for the final round of the World Cup qualifiers in the past and we know about their development in recent years. They will be a difficult opponent for us, but I think it will be equally tough for them

India are ranked 126th in the FIFA rankings and Vietnam are 10 spots higher at 116th. It will be a huge task for India to maintain their physical shape in the match, but Marquez believes that his players are fitter than last month. “Obviously, physically we are better than when we were in pre-season. There are still some players who are performing well but they are not here. We’re still in the beginning of the season. I don’t want to talk much about the ones who are not here. If you speak with 20 people, all of them will give you a different list. We called these players because we think they are the best to play against Vietnam,” he said.

Marquez made some big changes, handing first national team call-ups to left-back Aakash Sangwan and 21-year-old midfielder Lalrinliana Hnamte. Meanwhile, Farukh Choudhary has also found a spot, after an absence of three years.

In terms of head-to-head, Vietnam lead 2-1 against India. All three matches were international friendlies. In 2004, Vietnam defeated India 2-1 to clinch the LG Cup. In 2010, a Sunil Chhetri hat-trick saw India win 3-1. Then in their last encounter in 2022, India lost 0-3.

Key events:

• 0′: kick-off
• 11′: VIE penalty missed
• 38′: Huang Duc goal, 0-1
• 58′: Farukh Choudhary goal, 1-1