India hold Vietnam to 1-1 draw after Farukh Choudhary shines on comeback

Farouk Choudhary returned to the Indian team after three years and made his comeback count, scoring the equaliser against Vietnam. Manolo Marquez's men recovered from an early mistake to seal a 1-1 draw away from home in the international friendly match on Saturday, October 12.

In Short

• India came up with a spirited show to hold hosts Vietnam to a draw
• Farukh Choudhary scored India's only goal on his return after three years
• India have failed to register a win in their last 13 matches

Manolo Marquez's wait for a win continued but the Indian football team coach would have been happy with the side's performance on Saturday as India held hosts Vietnam for a 1-1 draw. Comeback man Farukh Choudhary's goal helped India seal a decent draw in the international friendly game at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh.

After a winless outing in the Intercontinental Cup, India should take confidence from the draw against higher-ranked Vietnam as the Blue Tigers managed to stay calm and composed in front of a packed home crowd.

India's opening goal against Vietnam was netted by Chennaiyin FC star Farukh Choudhury, who had found his way back into the national side as a part of the new mix of players selected by coach Manolo Marquez, and was even labelled one of the surprising inclusions since the announcement of the squad.

After having conceded an own goal due to a cheap fumble by goalkeeper and skipper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the 38th minute, India had to wait till the 58th minute to get back on level terms. Farukh executed a beautifully chipped shot over the Vietnamese goalkeeper in a calm and composed manner.

India have failed to register a win in their last 12 matches (before the Vietnam game), a streak which started since their SAFF Cup Final win against Kuwait via penalties in 2023 under former coach Igor Stimac. Their most-recent disappointing stretch came during the Intercontinental Cup, where they flunked a chance to clinch the tournament trophy after losing 3-0 to Syria.

After having taken charge of the Indian national team on July 20, 2024, Manolo has not had a good turn of fate with the side. There had been increased criticism for All India Football Federation (AIFF) hiring Manolo as he was announced to continue his job as Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Goa's head coach. The team's struggles in their recent fixtures have put further emphasis on it.

Manolo Marquez's side has struggled to find a good mix of players, which has seen the Spanish manager try different team combinations across their last four games. The clash against Vietnam saw Manolo try a different combination, with the usual top picks like Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and even Jeakson Singh not being named in the starting XI.

Originally, India were to play in a tri-Nation tournament but Lebanon pulled out, citing difficulties in flying out of the country due to the ongoing crisis at home. The tournament was planned in the FIFA international match window from October 7-15. India were earlier scheduled to play against Vietnam on October 9 and against Lebanon on October 12 before Lebanon's pulling out left them to play just one match.