Manolo Marquez to Remain with FC Goa for 2025-26 Season

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Former Indian football team head coach Manolo Marquez will continue to coach FC Goa for the 2025-26 season. The team has confirmed this through social media. Manolo Marquez was playing the dual role of head coach of the Indian football team as well as coach of FC Goa. Marquez had signed a contract with FC Goa for 2 years as head coach in 2024.

Manolo Marquez said, "I was very happy with the last two seasons, where the team showed consistent improvement each year. The level of organisation that the club operates with is not common in Indian club football, making FC Goa a very special club. It was clear to me that if I wanted to stay in India, it would have to be with FC Goa."

After India's poor start in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, it was almost certain that Manolo Marquez would be removed from the post of head coach of the men's national team. The Indian team played a draw against Bangladesh in the opening match. At the same time, the team had to face a 0-1 defeat against Hong Kong. Under the coaching of Spain's Manolo Marquez, the Indian football team played 8 matches, in which it won only one match.

Marquez came to India ahead of the 2020-21 Indian Super League season to take charge of Hyderabad FC, where he won the Indian Super League title in 2022. In his three years with Hyderabad, Marquez took charge of 74 matches, of which he won 37 and drew 21. He then took charge of FC Goa and led them to a Super Cup win.

In 62 matches under Marquez, FC Goa have won 38, lost 12 and drawn 12.

FC Goa is preparing for the upcoming season but uncertainty still looms over Indian football as Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a subsidiary of IMG Reliance that organises the Indian Super League (ISL), has postponed the upcoming 2025-26 season of the ISL due to stalled negotiations over extending its deal with the All India Football Federation (AIFF).