Shillong, Dec 27: Indian national coach Stephen Constantine named his 23-member squad for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 today.
India will play a pre-tournament friendly against Oman in Abu Dhabi today in a closed-door match.
With star midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh yet to make a full recovery from a knee injury, there is no Meghalaya player in the squad.
Only one player from the I-League – East Bengal defender Salam Ranjan Singh – is part of the Indian squad. All the others come from Indian Super League clubs.
There are quite a few North Eastern players in the squad, like Jackichand Singh (a former Royal Wahingdoh player), Udanta Singh, Halicharan Narzary and Jeje Lalpekhlua. One of the three goalkeepers is Vishal Kaith, who was formerly with Shillong Lajong.
India have been clubbed in Group A along with hosts the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Bahrain. India will play their first game on 6th January versus Thailand. The top two teams from the six groups plus four of the best third-placed teams will move into the next round.
Indian squad (jersey number in brackets):
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (1), Vishal Kaith (16), Amrinder Singh (23)
Defenders: Pritam Kotal (20), Sarthak Golui (4), Sandesh Jhingan (5), Anas Edathodika (22), Salam Ranjan Singh (2), Subhashish Bose (3), Narayan Das (21)
Midfielders: Udanta Singh (15), Jackiechand Singh (18), Germanpreet Singh (6), Pronay Halder (14), Anirudh Thapa (7), Vinit Rai (8), Rowllin Borges (17), Ashique Kuruniyan (13), Halicharan Narzary (19)
Forwards: Sumeet Passi (9), Balwant Singh (10), Sunil Chhteri (11), Jeje Lalpekhlua (12)
India’s Group A schedule:
vs Thailand, Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, 6th January, 7PM IST
vs United Arab Emirates, Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, 10th January, 9:30PM IST
vs Bahrain, Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, 14th January, 9:30PM IST
(Photo: Facebook/Indian Football Team)
