Returning to action after three years, midfielder Farukh Choudhary feels they could have scored another goal as India had to settle for a 1-1 draw against hosts Vietnam in an international friendly in Nam Dinh. Manolo Marquez’s selection of Farukh had raised eyebrows but the midfielder, who was sidelined for three years, struck a second-half goal to level things for India after Vi Hao Bui had given the hosts a 38th minute lead. “Personally, I feel great. I’ve not been a part of the national team for a long time, but this is where I wanted to be. I worked hard at my clubs and I knew in my heart that I deserved to be here,” Farukh said.

The last time Farukh turned out for India, he created an assist against Nepal, in October 2021, in a 1-0 victory in Male. But an unfortunate knee injury meant that he had to start from square one on his way back to the national team.

“I’m glad that I could make a difference for the team, but I feel that we could have scored another,” he said.

“But everyone played well together as a team. Gurpreet (Singh Saandhu) and Anwar (Ali) also had exceptional games in defence, which is why we got this score.” In what was a game of two halves, India heaved an almighty effort for most parts of the second half, and perhaps were a bit disappointed that they could not find the winning goal.

However, the head coach remains positive about his side’s display as his search of a first win in charge of India continues.

“In the first half, it was practically all Vietnam. Then we discussed at half time how we have enough quality to play, and finally, we started executing our plans in the second,” said Marquez.

“Sure, Vietnam could have scored in the last minutes when we were tired, but we could have scored too with our last chance. But overall, I am satisfied with this. It was a friendly game, after all.”

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