India Faces Syria, Aims for Back-to-Back Intercontinental Cup Titles

During their most recent trip to India for the 2019 Intercontinental Cup, Syria secured a third-place finish. However, in order for the Blue Tigers to prevent them from claiming their first silverware on Indian grounds, they must break a winless streak that dates back to November of last year.

"It will be a difficult game for both sides. It's a friendly game, but the team who wins the game wins the trophy. We expect to play a good game and win the tournament," said India head coach Manolo Márquez, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Saturday.

But the Spaniard also noted that the need of the hour for the national team is to play good football, and the results will follow.

"If you ask me, I prefer to play a good game than to win the tournament. I don't want to win it 1-0, scoring with the hand. I want that, in this moment, the team understands our ideas and we play better because finally, it's not about winning or losing.

"You need to arrive at a style of play and that's what we are focusing on. Obviously when you win, the confidence grows and then it's easier. But finally now it's about that we believe that we can compete against all the teams.

"When you have time to work, the possibilities for success are more," Márquez explained in the pre-match press conference.

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Defender Jay Gupta concurred with his coach's words.

"Obviously, it's a game where we have to fight for the cup, but we're just focused on how we adapt to what the coach wants as soon as possible." Having completed a week's training in Hyderabad, the 22-year-old shared that the mood in the dressing room is positive after the arrival of Márquez at the helm.

"I think a lot of players have already been under coach Manolo for a longer time (in the clubs), so they would know how to adapt to him. But I just wanted to say the atmosphere in the dressing room is really, really positive," said Gupta.

Márquez shared that fitness-wise, there's still work to do for the players since the season is only getting started, but overall, he and his coaching staff are happy with the boys' attitude in the training ground.

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"When you are in the pre-season, you are not in your best moment physically. In fact, some players finished the first game very tired. And this is normal. One good thing is that all 25 players are available for tomorrow.

"We are satisfied with how they are working. We are very happy with the attitude they have in every training session," said Márquez.

Like India, Syria are also in their new era under new head coach José Lana.

The Spaniard was satisfied with their opening-game display against Mauritius as goals from Mustafa Abdullatif and Mahmoud Al-Mawas sealed a 2-0 win. He hopes to keep progressing and do even better against India.

"I think India are a great team. I like the way they play with this coach. They try to move the ball fast. I think it will be a difficult match for us. And our only objective for tomorrow is to be better than our previous match," said Lana.

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Sharing more thoughts on the Indian team, the Syrian coach said, "I think they have good organisation. They know how to play when they don't have the ball. They try to press high. And when they have the ball, they try to play faster and move the ball from side to side."

(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)