Shillong/New Delhi, May 10: India coach Stephen Constantine has called up 30 players for the national team’s preparatory camp for the Intercontinental Cup, which is slated to be held in Mumbai from 1st June.
No Meghalaya players feature in the list of players, with star midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh out with injury. However, there are plenty of other North Eastern names, like Alen Deory, Jeje Lalpeklhua, Lalruatthara, Seiminlen Doungel as well as former Shillong Lajong FC goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, who hails from Himachal Pradesh.
The summoned players are to assemble for the camp in Mumbai on 16th May, except for those from Bengaluru FC, who will report two days later after finishing their club commitments for the AFC Cup.
India will compete with Kenya, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in the Intercontinental Cup, which is part of their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2019.
Constantine termed the Intercontinental Cup as “an opportunity to play against good opponents.”
“We need to play more international games before the AFC Asian Cup and here we are getting some international games against good opponents. New Zealand will be going to be a difficult team to deal with,” he said.
“Chinese Taipei will give us different problems. They play the same kind of football akin to Thailand who are clubbed with us in the Asian Cup. Kenya are renowned for their physical prowess and strength. The tournament is going to be very crucial for us. 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 National 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,” he added.
Preparatory camp squad:
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, Subhasish Bose
Midfielders – Udanta Singh, Laldanmawia Ralte, Seiminlen Doungel, Dhanapal Ganesh, Souvik Chakraborti, Md Rafique, Rowllin Borges, Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa, Bikash Jairu, Halicharan Narzary
Forwards – Sunil Chhetri, Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manvir Singh, Alen Deory, Ashique Kuruniyan
(Photo contributed by the All India Football Federation. Text by the AIFF and TSR)
