Indian football team head coach Manolo Marquez lamented his side’s missed opportunities as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Thailand in a friendly on Wednesday.

Early goals in either half from Benjamin Davis and Poramet Arjvilai, proved enough for the War Elephants to seal victory in front of their home fans. While India showed flashes of attacking intent, they were ultimately let down by poor finishing and defensive lapses.

The Blue Tigers took time to settle after conceding early but slowly found their rhythm and began creating openings. Liston Colaco, in particular, stood out with his pace and delivery from the left wing, often testing the Thai defence and creating danger in the final third. Still, India couldn’t capitalise.

Reflecting on the performance, Marquez admitted that the second goal was a hammer blow to his team’s hopes of a comeback and pointed to their profligacy in front of goal.

“The reality is that when you don’t score the clear chances we had, you usually lose the game. We started the first four-five minutes okay, but when Thailand scored the first goal, we were out for some minutes and when we entered the game again, I think we had very clear chances, one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Three or four, I don’t remember exactly but they were very clear,” Marquez said in the post-match press conference.

“And if you don’t score, Thailand have very good players and those who play in competition like Japan. The second goal was fantastic. It’s true that we lost the ball in a dangerous action to 2-0 on the flank, they recovered the ball and did a very good counterattack and they scored the goal. We tried everything but practically the game was over after the second goal.”

Thailand upped the tempo in the second half and fashioned a few more golden chances but India’s defence did just enough to keep the scoreline from worsening. India now turn their attention to the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier against Hong Kong on Tuesday, where they’ll hope to be sharper in front of goal.

Despite the result, Marquez praised his players’ work rate but acknowledged the physical edge Thailand had throughout the match.

“Physically, they (Thailand) are better than us. It’s difficult when you play against a team that is physically stronger than you. The pace was more for Thailand in this case,” he said.

“We can play better than today but usually Indian football misses the physical condition.. I want to do self-criticism but I don't want to criticise the effort of my players. It was a very similar game in Vietnam and we equalised there because we scored the chance we had. (Against Thailand) we had more chances and more clearer. But if you don’t score, the other team is a good team and even they could’ve scored more goals also,” he added.