Ashley Westwood from Kolkata. Keep the name in mind. With a team far lower in the FIFA rankings, the coach demonstrated for the second time in little over a year that he understands India.

Westwood accomplished it with Afghanistan in 2024. The match against Hong Kong on Tuesday ended in a 1-0 victory for them thanks to a late penalty.

In the flash interview after the game, India captain Sandesh Jhingan stated, "God willing, we will be in the Asian Cup." A third straight trip to the finals might seem gloomy without divine intervention. India is now last in the group, and along with Pakistan, the only team that has not scored after two rounds, after Singapore defeated Bangladesh 2-1.

The ball just missed the inside of the post when Pereira Stefan kicked his penalty. However, attributing the loss to a paint job on the framework would merely mask underlying flaws in both penalty boxes, which ultimately cost India the game in a packed Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, where the retractable roof was closed to increase the volume and which was opened with this Group C encounter.

Vishal Kaith made a mistake against Bangladesh by leaving his line, which led to the goal. Michael Udebuluzor was surrounded by three Indian players, but Kaith went ahead and struck the opponent instead of the ball. “Clear penalty,” said India coach Manolo Marquez at the post-match press conference. In the 90+4 minute, India suffered another agonizing late loss, similar to the one they had against Bahrain in the 2019 Asian Cup final.

Marquez left Sunil Chhetri on the bench and put Ashique Kuruniyan in the No. 9 position against a side that was 26 places lower than India at 153. Kuruniyan provided more zeal, but his misses reflected the historical issue in India of a dearth of strikers.

Due to injury, Kuruniyan missed the majority of the previous two seasons; nevertheless, Stephen Constantine snatched him from playing sevens because of his speed and strong work ethic, but perhaps because of this, he was not very sharp in front of goal. Additionally, he demonstrated to the world that he has no confidence in his right foot.

Brandon Fernandes had robbed Leon Jones and discovered Liston Colaco, who dribbled the ball and squared to Kuruniyan. Kuruniyan chose to use his left foot to try to beat only goalkeeper Yapp Hung Fai, but he missed the 35th-minute attempt. "Scoring first was crucial in a match with little opportunities," Marquez stated.

India had successfully executed a series of passes and located their target guy fifteen minutes later, when Kuruniyan fired out on the half-turn. Chhetri entered the game in the 57th minute after an injury cut his night short.

Despite poor choices made by Colaco and Naorem Mahesh Singh in the front third, India was still negatively impacted. In the 80th minute, Chhetri made a clever pass to Colaco, but the Mohun Bagan wide forward missed his shot from short range. "Players are a little apprehensive because the squad isn't winning," Marquez said.

India was not actually bothered by Hong Kong because of Anwar Ali's crucial interventions, including sliding to steal the ball away from Sung Min Him, which was the best of a good night, as well as Suresh Wangjam's defensive work in the midfield and once Ashish Rai taking the ball away after Kaith was beaten. Although Fernandes' set-piece routines and that of Colaco were subpar, India advanced the ball better than they did against Bangladesh.

Marquez stated, "Although I can't fault the players' attitude or effort, we don't know how to draw even if we want to win." The Spaniard ignored the query about his future, but he is expected to resign this month and sign with FC Goa for another season.

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