National football coach Wim Koevermans has named his squad of 23 for the international friendly against Palestine, scheduled to be played in Kochi on February 6.
Koevermans, under whom India had won the Nehru Cup last September, maintained that it’s a very important match for India.
“We need to assess ourselves. We need more such matches,” Koevermans said.
Sunil Chhetri, who captained India in the Nehru Cup added: “Unless you play international friendlies you cannot gauge where you stand. We stay grateful to the AIFF for arranging the match.”
“The passion for the sport in Kerala stays unparalleled and we expect a full house cheering for us against Palestine,” Chhetri said.
The 23-member list is as follows:
Goalkeepers : Subrata Pal (Prayag United), Sandip Nandy (Churchill Brothers), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar SC).
Defenders : Nirmal Chhetri (Mohun Bagan), Gouramangi Singh (Prayag United), Shouvik Ghosh (Pailan Arrows), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan), Gurjinder Kumar (Pune FC), Raju Gaikwad (East Bengal), Denzil Franco (Churchill Brothers).
Midfielders : Lenny Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers), Lalkamal Bhowmick (Prayag United), Arata Izumi (Pune FC), Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal), Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar), Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC), Alwyn George (Pailan Arrows), Jewel Raja (Mohun Bagan), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Vineet CK (Prayag United).
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri (Sporting Lisbon), Manandeep Singh (East Bengal), Sushil Kumar Singh (Shillong Lajong FC).
The AIFF has selected the following match officials for the match:
Referee: A Rowan (SSCB).
Assistant Referees: Shaji Kurian (Kerala), Md. Kamil (Delhi).
Fourth Official: MB Santosh Kumar (Kerala).
Match Commissioner: J Ravishankar (Delhi).
