Tata Steel thanks AIFF for selecting Jamshedpur FC players
Jamshedpur, July 31: Indian national team coach Stephen Constantine has announced a 34-member probable squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifiers fixture against Macau. Five players signed by Jamshedpur Football Club (FC), franchise owned by Tata Steel, during the Indian Super league (ISL) players draft held in Mumbai on July 23 have been included in the Indian squad for the AFC Asian Cup qualifier. The selected players will also be part of the national team for the upcoming Champions Cup to be held in Chennai from August 17- 27, 2017.
The Jamshedpur FC players include- Goalkeeper Subrata Paul, defender Anas Edathodika and Jerry Mawihmingthanga, midfielder Bikash Jairu and forward Sumeet Passi.
Speaking on the selection of the players, Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel said, �We would like to thank All India Football Federation for the selection of our players for the National Team. This opportunity will provide the players from our franchise to showcase their skills at the international arena. The opportunity will also help the selected players to gain more experience for our upcoming season of ISL.�
The Champions Cup is a 4-nation tournament which will engage the Indian National Football Team along with 3 other teams from Africa. The players will be reporting at Chennai for a training session which is scheduled on August 11, 2017. The players will also participate in AFC Asia Cup 2017(Qualifiers) against Macau on September 5, 2017.
Earlier, Tata Steel had successfully bid for the Jamshedpur-based franchise of the coveted ISL. Stephen James Coppell, popularly known as Steve Coppell, joined the franchise as the Head Coach along with player Ishfaq Ahmed as the assistant coach for the franchise. Tata Steel owned franchise have also drafted 15 players with big names like Anas Edathodika (Defender), Subrata Paul (Goalkeeper), Mehtab Hossain (Midfielder) and Souvik Chakraborti (Midfielder).
The Indian football team will be camping in Chennai prior to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers fixture, which is scheduled for September 5, with five new faces being called. After back-to-back wins against Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic in the first two fixtures, India will fly to Macau for their third game of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers Group A match. It will be the first senior national team camp for Sarthak Golui, Davinder Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Anirudh Thapa and Manvir Singh who showed their grit in the recently-concluded AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers in Doha. Out of the 34 players who are called upon by Stephen Constantine for the forthcoming camp, there are 10 players who have donned the National colours in the recent AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers in Doha.
The list of probables are- Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Albino Gomes, Vishal Kaith, TP Rehenesh. Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Arnab Mondal, Anas Edathodika, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Lalruatthara, Salam Ranjan Singh, Sarthak Golui, Davinder Singh.
Midfielders: Dhanapal Ganesh, Jackichand Singh, Seityasen Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Bikash Jairu, Milan Singh, Udanta Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Md. Rafique, Rowllin Borges, Halicharan Narzary, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa.
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Balwant Singh, Manvir Singh.
India is at the top of the group table. Another away win against Macau will take them a step closer to qualification for the main competition.