Former Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac congratulated Manolo Marquez on his appointment as the new head coach but warned that the journey ahead will be challenging. Stimac, who was dismissed after India's failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, expressed confidence in Marquez's ability to elevate the team's performance. Marquez will juggle his responsibilities as the head coach of both the national team and ISL club FC Goa until the end of the 2024/25 season, after which he will focus solely on the national team. Stimac highlighted the difficulties of finding a high-profile coach for the position, given the operational challenges within Indian football. He also revealed that he had relied on FC Goa's resources for national team duties due to inadequate support from the AIFF. Marquez's first assignment will be the Tri-Nation tournament in Vietnam in October.