India take on Vietnam in a friendly at the Thien Truong Stadium in the Nam Dinh province of Vietnam today. Both teams have had a dismal 2024, with Vietnam winning only one of ten games, and India winning none of their nine.

Those records saw the departures of Philippe Troussier and Igor Stimac as head coaches, with Kim Sang-sik taking over for Vietnam while Manolo Marquez took up a curious dual role in charge of Indian Super League side FC Goa and the Indian national football team.

Vietnam have lost all three games under their Korean coach, while India have a draw and a loss, but have yet to find the net in the two games under Marquez. Both sides were unfit in the previous FIFA international window, on account of their respective domestic leagues having not begun. With four rounds done in both the V-League and the ISL, the teams are in better shape physically, which ought to make for an intriguing contest.

India have faced Vietnam only thrice before in the 21st century, having won only one of those contests and losing two. The previous game between the two teams in 2022 ended up 3-0 in favour of Vietnam, with 13 of that Vietnamese squad and 10 of that Indian squad available for this contest.

What they said:

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, goalkeeper (India):

“They have players with good technical skills who like to keep possession and play fast. Playing at home for them is always an advantage as the crowd chants the whole game. Friendlies like these are extremely important since they put us in uncomfortable situations and that’s where we get to push ourselves and try to overcome the difficulties. I am sure we are getting better day by day and becoming a team that our coach envisions us to be.”

Chinglensana Singh, defender (India):

“Playing with home support, they will come out strong. They have good players who play in the Vietnamese league. But we’re prepared for them. We can expect the best from us. If we play our game and how we’ve been training for the past few days, it shouldn’t be a problem. If we play to our strength and as a team, we should be able to get a positive result.”

Manolo Marquez, head coach (India):

“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 too.”

“The weather is great here. We had very good conditions for training. We are ready for tomorrow. I believe it will be a good game. We have been without a victory for a long time and it’s a nice challenge for us. We know Vietnam are a well-balanced team in attack and defence. We have information on them and their players.”

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