National football coach Stephen Constantine has called up 30 players for the Indian team’s preparatory camp ahead the Hero Intercontinental Cup, slated to be held in Mumbai from June 1.
The summoned players are to assemble for the camp in Mumbai on May 16 with Bengaluru FC players reporting on May 18 after finishing the club commitments for the AFC Cup.
India will compete with Kenya, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei in the tournament, which is part of its preparations for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
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“We need to play more international games before the AFC Asian Cup and here we are getting some international games against good opponents,” said Constantine.
The coach also stressed on the significance of the camp and asked the players to keep an open mind.
“I always look for more options as the set of players who are with me now might not be available then. An injury or a bad patch might come in between. Players should come to the camp with an open mind and give their best. We might have some difficult decisions to make in future, he said.
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“I always look forward to the National camp as I love working with the players. All of them have worked very hard to qualify for the camp. We can say the India team has reached a certain level in many years and now the onus is on us to maintain this. We have to work hard relentlessly to continue the process.”
The probables: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Amrinder Singh, Sanjiban Ghosh. Defenders: Lalruatthara, Davinder Singh, Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Salam Ranjan Singh, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Narayan Das and Subhasish Bose. Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Laldanmawia Ralte, Seiminlen Doungel, Dhanapal Ganesh, Souvik Chakraborti, Md Rafique, Rowllin Borges, Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa, Bikash Jairu and Halicharan Narzary.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manvir Singh, Alen Deory and Ashique Kuruniyan .