"Ivan is a winner" - Manolo Marquez previews Hyderabad FC's final ISL 2022-23 league-stage match against Kerala Blasters

Hyderabad FC will face Kerala Blasters in the ISL 2022-23 at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi on Sunday, February 26.

The clash between the two South Indian outfits will be the last league-stage match of the season. Having already secured a second-place finish, the game is more or less a dead rubber for Hyderabad FC.

The Nizams can now sit back and wait to find out who they will face in the ISL semi-finals. However, the team's head coach Manolo Marquez has stressed the need for them to fight for a win on Sunday. He said:

"We have to play this game [with the intention of winning]. I think after the defeat against Jamshedpur FC, we need to finish [the league stage] with good feelings.

"The opponents in our semi-final will now play their last game or have played their league game in their regular season and will play another game [in the playoffs], a hard game, to qualify."

Marquez feels teams playing in the playoffs are likely to be in better condition than those who have already qualified for the semi-finals. He has thus urged Hyderabad FC to end their league campaign on a high with a win against Kerala Blasters.

He explained:

"Then, for sure, the opponents will arrive in very good conditions. [There] may be physical problems, but at least in terms of mentality, in terms of how they'll train the team, our opponents will be in very good conditions.

"We have to be at least at the same level as our opponents on our side because we need to train hard, we need to play a good game against Kerala Blasters, and then we'll practically have another 10 days to prepare for the game and see who the opponents are and try to qualify for the final. This is our target."

The Spanish tactician rotated his squad in the Nizams' 3-2 defeat to Jamshedpur FC in their last match. Asked if he intends to take a similar approach on Sunday, he replied:

"I don't think so. I think we are playing a game where there are more teams involved in the competition. Against Jamshedpur FC, it was a very good moment [to rotate the squad] because the three points were not important for them in terms of the table.

"But for us, it was important because a lot of players who haven't played [much] before, deserved to play that game. Most of them... I think it was maybe the first time in the ISL that a team conceded three goals in four-and-a-half minutes."

Marquez continued:

"It was seven minutes, but if you remove the minutes when the referee and the fourth official decided about the penalty, in four-and-a-half minutes, we conceded three goals. That is not normal for our team.

"We started the game very well, with a lot of new players as starters. In the second half, it is true that they received a red card, but I think we deserved at least to draw the game. I'm satisfied with the young guys that played the other day."

Marquez went on to clarify that he will name a strong line-up to face Kerala Blasters. He stated:

"But now, I think before the semi-finals, we need to play with the players who... let's see, maybe it's not the same XI, but with most of the players that we will use for the semi-final."

Kerala Blasters currently sit fifth in the ISL table. A win against Hyderabad FC could potentially see them finish in the top four and earn home advantage in the playoffs.

Asked if he thinks the Yellow Army will push for the win on Sunday, Marquez replied:

"Let's see, I think so because if you remember last season, in the last game, they [Kerala Blasters] were [possibly going to finish] fifth - [they qualified] because we won against Mumbai City FC the previous day - and when they were losing 4-2 against FC Goa, the coach put two players with three yellow cards in the line-up - Alvaro Vazquez and I don't remember the other. But, finally the score was 4-4."

The 54-year-old also touched upon Kerala Blasters boss Ivan Vukomanovic's winning mentality. He said:

"So, I think, of course, if they need to win - if they win, they play [the playoff] at home - they will play with their full team. But, even if they can maximum finish fifth, I think they would want to win, I know Ivan [Vukomanovic].

"Ivan is a winner in these kinds of situations. For sure, he'll want to win in front of the fans, of Kerala Blasters fans. For sure, they'll try to win. I think they will play their main team."

Kerala Blasters earned a 1-0 victory over Hyderabad FC when the two sides met earlier in the season. Looking back at the result, Marquez insisted that his team did not deserve to lose the game.

He stated:

"We didn't deserve to lose that game. It was a very equal game. I think the fair score was a draw, but we conceded a goal that we could have avoided, but this is football.

"They defended with a lot of order, and even then we had some clear chances. But, let's see, it will depend on what the score is and how the score is... if it stays a draw for a long time, maybe it'll be a close game."

The Nizams gaffer explained that he expects another close contest on Sunday:

"But, if one team scores, obviously the other team has to attack and it'll be a more open game. I think it'll be a good game as there will be a lot of people in the stadium, this is very good for the players.

"Kerala Blasters had a lot of good games in the last seasons."

Marquez was also asked who he thinks are the most dangerous players in the Kerala Blasters squad, to which he replied:

"All of us know that Adrian Luna is one of the best players in this competition. The new player they signed, [Dimitrios] Diamantakos has scored, I don't know how many goals, but he is a good center-forward and it is obvious because you only have to see the scores.

"The character of [Marko] Leskovic, for them, is very important. But we can speak about a very good goalkeeper, we can speak about very good central midfielders, very good players on the flanks.

"Even Rahul KP, he can play. I think Kerala Blasters have a very good team."

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'Nice to go back to Kochi' - Hyderabad FC striker Bartholomew Ogbeche

Marquez was joined by Hyderabad FC striker Bartholomew Ogbeche for the pre-match press conference. The Nigerian notably plied his trade at Kerala Blasters before joining the Nizams.

Looking ahead to Sunday's game, Ogbeche explained that he is excited to return to Kochi for the first time since leaving the Blasters. However, he stressed that he is determined to help his team claim all three points.

He said:

"I'm looking forward to playing a game against a very difficult side, but our mentality, as usual, is to win. So, the intention will be to go there with the aim of finishing the regular season with a good feeling, with a lot of confidence going into the semi-finals.

"It'll be nice to go back to Kochi, but [I will go there] with the aim of winning the game."

Asked if he expects the match to be different from the two teams' earlier meetings, the veteran elucidated:

"In my opinion, I don't think it is going to be very different from the last games. I think it is going to be another very close game that might be decided by [certain] details. Unfortunately, we didn't deserve to lose as the coach said, but we lost at home due to an error that we could have easily avoided.

"So, we'll try and be more alert, more vigilant, and try to avoid those easy mistakes, and make it difficult for them to be able to break through us. We will be looking forward to trying all we can to make sure we at least win the game and go into the playoffs with a good feeling."

Ogbeche also explained that the mood in the Hyderabad FC camp is positive ahead of the semi-finals. He stated:

"It is going very positive for us. I think the fact that in the last game, regardless of the fact that we, unfortunately, lost against Jamshedpur FC, a lot of our young players got a lot of minutes.

"It has also boosted the mood of the whole group. We've seen a lot of times that the coach can count on any player at any time, so it keeps all of us on our toes, which is very important for the competition among us and also to make us ready, to make sure we step into every game with the aim of winning."

He concluded:

"I can tell you that the mood is a positive one. We don't want to think about the playoffs before we finish the regular season. We want to finish very well and take even better mood than we have now into the playoffs."

It is only a matter of time before we find out if Hyderabad FC can end their league campaign on a high.