FC Goa's Brandon Fernandes and Glan Martins.
Photo Credits: FC Goa
PANAJI
Five Goans have found a place in the 23-member squad named by Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac for the upcoming SAFF Championship in the Maldives.
Defenders Seriton Fernandes and Mandar Rao Dessai, and midfielders Brandon Fernandes, Glan Martins and Liston Colaco have made the cut for the October 1-16 regional tournament. The five players were also part of Indian team’s campaign in Nepal where they played two international friendlies against the northern neighbours in early September.
The notable call-ups are that of Bengaluru FC winger Udanta Singh and Kerala Blasters midfielder Jeakson Singh, who return to the national side. Goalkeeper Amrinder Singh has been omitted from the squad after he tested positive for Covid-19. He was initially named among the three goalkeepers while Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem was ignored. Dheeraj will now replace Amrinder.
Defender Akash Mishra, midfielders Bipin Singh and Pronay Halder were the other players left out of the 25-member team that went to Kathmandu for the friendlies.
The players and the support staff will assemble in Bengaluru on Monday and fly out to the Maldives the next day. Stimac, and other members of the technical staff, will join the squad directly in the Maldives on the same day.
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and hosts the Maldives are the other teams in the championship. Each team plays each other once with the top two teams qualifying for the final.
''We are all looking forward to the SAFF Championship as the leading football country in this part of Asia,'' Stimac said. ''These 4-5 games are extremely crucial for us as we won't have any other chance of getting together before the start of 3rd round AFC Asian Cup qualifiers next season. So these matches should help us to improve a few points in our game.''
The Blue Tigers have won the SAFF Championship (formerly SAARC Cup) seven times -- 1993 in Lahore, 1997 in Kathmandu, 1999 in Margao, 2005 in Karachi, 2009 (U23 squad) in Dhaka, 2011 in New Delhi), 2015-16 in Thiruvananthapuram. India begin their campaign against Bangladesh on October 4.
India's fixtures in the group stage: October 4: India vs Bangladesh (4.30 pm IST), October 7: India vs Sri Lanka (4.30 pm), October 10: India vs Nepal (8.30 pm), October 13: India vs Maldives (8.30 pm).
The Squad: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh, Dheeraj Singh, Vishal Kaith; Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Seriton Fernandes, Chinglensana Singh, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Mandar Rao Dessai; Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lalengmawia, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Jeakson Singh, Glan Martins, Suresh Singh, Liston Colaco, Yasir Mohammad; Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary.
