Indian Men's Football Team to Begin Camp in Kolkata on August 15, No News on Women's Team

The Indian men’s football team will begin their camp in Kolkata from August 15 onwards with an eye on preparing for the forthcoming international friendlies in September. However, there was no news on the women’s team, who are to play as the host nation in the AFC Asian Cup next year. The Indian women’s football team has not played a single match since April and with the Indian Women’s League also cancelled, they have no preparation at this point in time.

All the men’s football team players and staff will be assembling on August 15 but the training sessions will start starting from the next day. The last time the national team had a camp in Kolkata was in 2006, ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia. The camp will be conducted under a secured bio-bubble adhering to the laid-down health parameters in wake of the current pandemic situation. The contingent will also be undergoing regular testing.

Men’s national team head coach Igor Stimac has named his initial list of 23 probables, leaving out players from ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC owing to the two club’s commitments in the AFC Cup in the Maldives. Players from both clubs will be joining the squad immediately after finishing their club commitments in the continental tournament.

Head Coach Igor Stimac said, “I am very happy to meet with my players again and get ready for the upcoming challenges forward together. We wish both the Indian clubs good luck and hope they do well in the AFC Cup. Meanwhile, we need to check on the rest of the players who will kick-off the camp with us next week, and choose the best ones until the rest of the players join us.”

The 23 players joining the camp on August 15 are as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Vishal Kaith.

DEFENDERS: Ashish Rai, Seriton Fernandes, Adil Khan, Chinglensana Singh, Narender, Rahul Bheke, Akash Mishra, Mandar Rao Dessai.

MIDFIELDERS: Lalengmawia, Glan Martins, Jeakson Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Sahal Abdul Samad, Halicharan Narzary, Bipin Singh, Yasir Mohammed.

FORWARDS: Rahul KP, Farukh Choudhary, Ishan Pandita, Rahim Ali.

The ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC players who will be joining the camp after their AFC Cup duties are as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Ashutosh Mehta, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose.

MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Pronay Halder, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Ashqiue Kuruniyan.

FORWARDS: Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri.

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