Indian football team announce list of probables for World Cup qualifiers
Indian football team coach Stephen Constantine on Tuesday announced the list of 28 probables for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. India will travel to Iran on March 24, before hosting Turkmenistan on March 29 at Kochi in the qualifiers, which will also act as the qualifiers for the Asian Cup.
India, who are ranked 160th in the World, lie at the bottom of Group D that comprises Iran, Turkmenistan, Guam and Oman. Although the team is out of the running for the qualification for the 2018 Russia World Cup qualifiers, the 1-0 win against Guam back in November has given the team hopes of making it to the next round of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Under Constantine’s guidance, India had won the 2015 SAFF Championship back in January and opted to retain most of the players from the title-winning team. 18-year old Lallianzuala Chhangte, who was the find of the SAFF Championship, is the only prominent name missing from the list of probables scheduled to assemble at Delhi on March 16.
“The boys would be assembling on March 16 and we will be practicing at the Ambedkar Stadium. However, as both Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC are involved in the AFC Cup, the boys from the two Clubs won’t be able to be with us on the 16th,” Constantine was quoted as saying by aiff.com.
“As Mohun Bagan play a Home match in the AFC Cup (on March 16), they will report to the Camp the next day while the boys from Bengaluru FC will report to the Camp as soon as they are back from their away match,” he added.
India had lost 0-3 to Iran in the home match back in September, and Constantine felt that the away game against the best team in Asia will be difficult for the team.
“It’s important that we sustain the momentum which we achieved by winning the SAFF Suzuki Cup. Playing in Tehran will be a difficult game for us. Without disrespecting Turkmenistan, we want to get the maximum we can from our Home match,” he quipped.
The list of 28 probables are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Karanjit Singh, TP Reheneesh.
Defenders: Aiborlang Khongjee, Augustine Fernandes, Arnab Mondal, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Rino Anto, Narayan Das, Lalchhuanmawia,
Midfielders: Pronay Halder, Bikash Jairu, Cavin Lobo, Rowlin Borges, Alwyn George, Md. Rafique, Malsawmzuala, Francis Fernandes, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Udanta Singh, Vineet Rai, Seityasen Singh.
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Sumeet Passi, Halicharan Nazary.
