The Indian national team head coach Igor Stimac recently announced the 23-member squad for the upcoming friendlies against Vietnam and SIngapore in the coming days. The team will be travelling to Vietnam on September 20 and will play two matches against Vietnam and Singapore on September 24 & 27 respectively.
The three-team tournament will start on September 21 and has been named as Hunh Thinh Friendly Tournament. The tournament will start with hosts, Vietnam taking on Singapore The tournament will see the champions of the round robin take a prize money of $ 30,000, the runners-up side will take home $ 20,000. The third place too carries a prize money of $10,000.
While there was uncertainty over head coach Igor Stimac’s future, now it has been known that he is staying in charge of the Blue Tigers till the end of the upcoming AFC Asian Cup which is scheduled to be held next year.
The Croatian feels that it is exciting for the entire team to gather again after three months of their qualification to the Asian Cup in Kolkata. He is very excited for the upcoming two friendlies and feels that it will give a larger perspective regarding the preparations that the players have had for the upcoming season with an eye on the Asian Cup.
“We are happy and grateful that we have received another opportunity to get together and check where we actually stand at the moment. All of us are looking forward to playing the two friendly matches. This is going to be a truly exciting tour, especially three months after our qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Kolkata in June this year,” Stimac told AIFF.com.
However Stimac also suggested that many Indian players have not even completed their pre-season for the upcoming Indian Super League. On the other hand both Vietnam and Singapore have had their players play in various domestic competitions, so it will be tough for the Blue Tigers. Despite all the challenges Stimac is hopeful that his team will do everything to keep up the momentum from the Asian Cup qualifiers.
“But that is not going to deter us. We will do everything possible at the moment to keep the momentum going from the June qualifiers,” Stimac added.
It is known that players like Laxmikant Kattimani, Rahim Ali, Prabhsukhan Gill, Suresh Singh Wangjam, and Rahul Bheke were in Stimac’s plans but they were not fit enough to feature for the friendlies. Similarly Vikram Pratap Singh was also injured to take the plane to Vietnam.
The list of 23 players called for the camp:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem and Amrinder Singh.
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Roshan Singh Naorem, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Harmanjot Singh Khabra and Narender.
Midfielders: Liston Colaco, Muhammed Ashique Kuruniyan, Deepak Tangri, Udanta Singh Kumam, Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Yasir Mohammad, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Sahal Abdul Samad, Rahul Kannoly Praveen and Lallianzuala Chhangte.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri and Ishan Pandita.
