Igor Stimac pens note to new India head coach Marquez says, 'journey won't be easy'

New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) After All India Football Federation announced FC Goa head coach Manolo Marquez as the new head coach of the team, ex-coach Igor Stimac has congratulated Manolo for his new job and wished him best of luck as the Spaniard takes on the mammoth challenge that lies ahead of him.

"Dear Manolo, Congratulations on being named the new India head coach. The journey won’t be easy, but your experience with Indian players speaks for itself and you are best suited to take the Blue Tigers to the next level! Good luck my friend," read the post by Stimac on Instagram.

Marquez will be taking on a dual role as the head coach of both India and ISL club FC Goa. His contract with ISL club runs through the 2024/24 season and once it runs out, the Spaniard will fully focus on his duties with the national team.

Stimac's congratulatory message is ironic on some levels as it was the Croatian, who had previously warned the country that they will not be able to get a big name to take on the responsibility of the managerial role of the senior men’s national team.

"He will know immediately but I can tell you for sure, not big name coach you can get. Everyone knows what kind of things we deal in India with football, how we operate, so you might get someone who's desperate for the job at the moment," Stimac had said in his final press conference.

The dual job lifts the pressures of Manolo's wages of the AIFF. FC Goa has always been a supporter of Indian football, a fact that Stimac had emphasised upon when he revealed that he had been using the scouting platform of the club for National team duties as he had not been provided with the needed requirements.

"Throughout the time we were renting match analyst from Goa. Always having problem 'is he going to come or not going to come', 'is it possible for him to be with the team'. We were stealing the platforms from FC Goa Wyscout and that's how we operated, and no one knows this," Stimac had further said in the conference.