Stephen Constantine selects 30 players for national camp ahead of Hero Intercontinental Cup

PTI

New Delhi: National football coach Stephen Constantine has called up 30 players for the team's preparatory camp ahead of the Hero Intercontinental Cup which is slated to be held in Mumbai from June 1.

The summoned players are to assemble for the Camp in Mumbai on May 16 while players from JSW Bengaluru FC will be reporting to the camp on May 18 after finishing their club commitments for the AFC Cup.

India will compete with Kenya, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei in the Hero Intercontinental Cup, which is part of their preparation for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

Constantine termed the Hero Intercontinental Cup as "an opportunity to play against good opponents."

"We need to play more international games before the AFC Asian Cup and here we are getting some international games against good opponents. New Zealand will be going to be a difficult team to deal with," he said.

"Chinese Taipei will give us different problems. They play the same kind of football akin to Thailand who are clubbed with us in the Asian Cup," he said.

"Kenya are renowned for their physical prowess and strength. The tournament is going to be very crucial for us."

The coach also stressed the significance of the camp and asked the players to keep an open mind.

"I always look for more options as the set of players who are with me now might not be available then. An injury or a bad patch might come in between. Players should come to the camp with an open mind and give their best. We might have some difficult decisions to make in future," he said.

"I always look forward to the national camp as I love working with the players. All of them have worked very hard to qualify for the camp. We can say the India team has reached a certain level in many years and now the onus is on us to maintain this. We have to work hard relentlessly to continue the process."

Squad of 30 players for the preparatory Camp in Mumbai:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Amrinder Singh, Sanjiban Ghosh.

Defenders: Lalruatthara, Davinder Singh, Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Salam Ranjan Singh, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Narayan Das, Subhasish Bose.

Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Laldanmawia Ralte, Seiminlen Doungel, Dhanapal Ganesh, Souvik Chakraborti, Md Rafique, Rowllin Borges, Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa, Bikash Jairu, Halicharan Narzary.

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Manvir Singh, Alen Deory, Ashique Kuruniyan.