India’s newly appointed head coach Manolo Marquez has announced the list of 26 probables for the Intercontinental Cup. The Blue Tigers will open their campaign against Mauritius on 3rd September whereas they will play the second match against Syria on 9th September.
India is currently ranked 124th in the FIFA rankings whereas Syria is 93rd while Mauritius is in 179th place. The Spaniard admitted that rankings are not important and they need to work in the same direction to get the best out of them.
This will be Marquez’s maiden assignment with the national team after he took over the baton from former coach Igor Stimac. The preparatory camp will start in Hyderabad on August 31.
East Bengal FC goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill and forward Kiyan Nassiri Giri are new additions to the squad.
Announcing the probables, Márquez, India’s new head coach said: “We are very excited about our first preparatory camp and I know it will be the same for the players.
“We face two different teams and the rankings are not very important. We need to work all together in the same direction to find the correct group of players and their predisposition will be very good, something I am completely sure about. I know all of us are in pre-season with nice challenges in front of us. Is a big honour to wear the jersey of the National Team and we need to show it to all our fans.”
The Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh, Amrinder Singh, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill.
Defenders: Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Roshan Singh Naorem, Anwar Ali, Jay Gupta, Ashish Rai, Subhasish Bose, Mehtab Singh.
Midfielders: Suresh Singh Wangjam, Jeakson Singh, Nandhakumar Sekar, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Yasir Mohammad, Lalengmawia Ralte, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Lalthathanga Khawlhring.
Forwards: Kiyan Nassiri Giri, Edmund Lalrindika, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco.
Intercontinental Cup Fixtures (All matches will kick-off at 7.30 PM):
September 3: India vs Mauritius
September 6: Syria vs Mauritius
September 9: India vs Syria