New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) India senior men’s team head coach Khalid Jamil on Thursday announced the 28-member preliminary squad,which has four goal keepers and eight forwards, for the Unity Cup to be held in London from May 26 to 30.
The Blue Tigers are set to assemble in Bengaluru for a brief camp after the completion of the Indian Super League, before flying off to London on May 24 for the four-nation tournament.
Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Jamaica are the other three teams in the tournament.
India (136th in FIFA rankings) face Jamaica (ranked 71st) on May 27 in the second semifinal, while Nigeria (ranked 26th) and Zimbabwe (ranked 130th) face each other the previous day. The winners of the two matches will square off in the final, while the losers face each other in the third-place match, both matches on May 30.
Jamil will assess the players during the brief camp, before selecting the final squad of 23 that will travel to London.
“The Unity Cup will be the perfect opportunity for us to prepare for the official tournaments like the SAFF Championship later this year. We need to utilise every available FIFA International Window to prepare for the tournaments we have up ahead,” Jamil said.
“We have selected the 28 players for the preliminary squad, as per their performances in the ongoing ISL. We will have a couple of days to assess them before we pick the final 23,” he said.
The India head coach feels that playing against stronger opposition will help boost the team.
“We are playing against strong teams that play at a good level. I think these matches will give a lot of confidence to the players and help us play at that level. We should play more matches like these,” said Jamil.
India’s 28-member preliminary squad: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Hrithik Tiwari, Albino Gomes.
Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Nikhil Poojary, Roshan Singh Naorem, Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Anwar Ali, Sandesh Jhingan, Akash Mishra, Bijoy Varghese, Pramveer.
Midfielders: Ashique Kuruniyan, Lalengmawia Ralte, Sahal Abdul Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Noufal PN, Ricky Shabong.
Forwards: Ryan Williams, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Suhail Ahmad Bhat, Edmund Lalrindika, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rahim Ali, Farukh Choudhary. PTI PDS PDS APS
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