Fresh off a Durand Cup win with Bengaluru FC, veteran Sunil Chhetri will lead the Indian assault within the upcoming Hung Thinh pleasant soccer event in Vietnam, as coach Igor Stimac named a 23-man squad on Tuesday.
The Indian soccer group will play two pleasant matches in opposition to hosts Vietnam and Singapore in Ho Chi Minh City. The group left for Vietnam on Tuesday. Head coach Igor Stimac is upbeat about India’s prospects within the two matches. “We’ve definitely been able to win the tournament, but I think it’s the little things that decide who will win,” Stimac mentioned. Obviously, Vietnam has gained quite a lot of momentum with its efficiency over time. They have group, and they’re enjoying at dwelling, which is why they’re in all probability favourites, however we even have probability as a result of we’ve got a younger group.
“I think we have enough qualities to match them, and if we stay positive and play with a good mindset, we can do that,” he added.
While the group is excessive on confidence, Stimac was aware of the truth that most of their gamers are nonetheless in pre-season mode, and that rotation would be the order of the day for the Blue Tigers.
squad announcement
Here it’s 2️⃣3️ #blue tigers Who will journey to Vietnam to take part within the Hung Thinh pleasant soccer event#backw I #indianfootball I pic.twitter.com/4Ac5D4hDVJ
– Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 20, 2022
“It’s a good challenge for us, although we need to make sure we combine and rotate our players properly. We need to make sure no one gets injured, because we still have most of the players.” are in pre-season mode, and must be nurtured,” Stimac mentioned.
“We need to be careful because we are facing two sides that are in full swing.” However, the Indian group would not have sufficient momentum to be too frightened in the intervening time, it appears, the 55-year-old.
“The optimism is excessive with regard to the momentum we’ve got after the June AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers (India beat Cambodia, Afghanistan and Hong Kong in back-to-back matches) and the positivity that presently surrounds the group ought to solely be good. For us.”
While there are some new faces within the Blue Tigers group, the pinnacle coach has not closed the doorways for any participant who shouldn’t be presently with the group. It is a matter of attempting out totally different methods with a pool of round 40 gamers in preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. “No one has been left out. There are 40 players on my actual list, and it’s just because of the state of the tournament that I can only pick 23 of them. My technical staff and I thought this set of players would come.” He was essentially the most appropriate and most fitted to the 2 matches.
“That’s how we learn more about the players. Of course before that I had a meeting with all my players, I told them why we were going with this current list. Everyone who isn’t on the list is there. knows why he’s not on this list.” The checklist of 23 gamers is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem and Amarinder Singh.
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Roshan Singh Nourem, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Harmanjot Singh Khabra and Narendra.
Midfielders: Liston Colaco, Mohammad Ashiq Kuruniyan, Vikram Pratap Singh, Udanta Singh Kumum, Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Yasir Mohammad, Jackson Singh Thounaojam, Sahal Abdul Samad, Rahul Kannoli Praveen and Lallianzuala Chhangte.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri and Ishaan Pandita.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
