Gurpreet, Chhetri return for AFC qualifiers against Macau

by Chittu Shetty August 31, 2017

Bengaluru FC players Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Sandhu and Udanta are back in the national squad for the AFC qualifiers against Macau

Six players from India’s AFC U-23 campaign in Doha were named in the 24-member squad for India’s forthcoming AFC Asian Cup Qualifier match against Macau on September 5, 2017. The squad will be departing for Macau from Mumbai via Bangkok on Friday (September 1, 2017).

India are currently on top of Group A with 6 points, courtesy back to back victories against Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic. However, National Coach Stephen Constantine felt there is ’no reason to underestimate Macau as a Team.’

“Macau will be playing at home and in front of their home crowd. There’s always a marked difference between playing at home and playing an away match but we are aware of the challenge,” Constantine said on arrival.

Also Read: NEUFC announce Transfer deadline day signing of their first foreign player

The Team has been camping in Mumbai since August 12, 2017 during which they played two International matches against Mauritius and St. Kitts and Nevis in the Hero Tri-nation Football series as part of the preparation. “The matches provided us with the much-needed match practice ahead of our challenge against Macau,” Constantine mentioned.

Legendary Footballer IM Vijayan who will also be travelling to Macau as an observer said the team looks to be in great shape,“The body language is positive but ahead of such matches, there’s always a tendency of taking it a bit lightly against lower ranked opponents. The boys need to keep working hard on the ground against Macau,” he stated.

The squad for Macau stays as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Subrata Paul, Albino Gomes.

DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Lalruatthara, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Arnab Mondal, Salam Ranjan Singh, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala.

MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Rowllin Borges, Md. Rafique, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Halicharan Narzary.

FORWARDS: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Balwant Singh.