NEW DELHI (India): Indian football team’s national coach Igor Stimac has announced names of 23 players for a 18-day camp before their FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier against Qatar in Bhubaneswar (Odisha) on March 26.
The camp starts on March 9 while 20 others from four Indian Super League semifinalist teams will join on March 16, the AIFF said in a press release on Friday.
“Time is very crucial for us. We have planned to utilise the maximum time possible. We want to see as many players as possible before the Qatar match. As some players won’t be able to join the camp because of their club commitments, we’ll use this time to assess others,” said Stimac.
Meanwhile, Sandesh Jhingan and Jeje Lalpekhlua, who were undergoing a prolonged rehabilitation session following their injury layoffs, have been named in the first batch of players.
“Sandesh (Jhingan) and Jeje (Lalpekhlua) have been longstanding servers of Indian National Team and I strongly believe in their abilities. I have been updated about their current medical status and we’ll monitor them closely in Bhubaneswar too,” Stimac added.
Incidentally, Jeakson Singh, who scored against Colombia in the FIFA U17 World Cup on October 10, 2017, has also earned his maiden call-up to the senior camp.
“It’s a dream-come-true for me to get a call-up from Senior Team camp. Scoring the goal against Colombia is something that I shall always cherish but now I want to prove myself here. Sharing the dressing room with ones who I’ve always looked up to, is going to be a remarkable experience for me,” said Singh.
GOALKEEPERS: Amrinder Singh, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Md. Rafique Ali Sardar.
DEFENDERS: Pratik Prabhakar Chowdhary, Shubham Sarangi, Subhasish Bose, Narender, Adil Khan, Sandesh Jhingan.
MIDFIELDERS: Rowllin Borges, Amarjit Singh, Jeakson Singh, Nandhakumar Sekar, Lalengmawia, Vinit Rai, Raynier Fernandes, Nikhil Poojary, Mawihmingthanga, Halicharan Narzary, Sahal Abdul Samad.
FORWARDS: Farukh Choudhary, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Liston Colaco.
