JOIN USAs many as seven Bengaluru FC players were called up for national duty when head coach Stephen Constantine announced his squad for the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers play-off against Laos on Monday.
Bengaluru’s contribution to the 20-member squad include their first choice goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, defenders Rino Anto, Keegan Pereira, midfielders Udanta Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Alwyn George and forward Sunil Chhetri.
Constantine has had to deal with a number of injury issues before he could finalise the squad. While midfielder Vinit Rai was ruled out on Sunday owing to an ankle injury, midfielders Rowlin Borges, Pronay Halder, Cavin Lobo, Bikash Jairu and defender Augustine Fernandes too have been sidelined due to various injuries.
Furthermore, Dhanpal Ganesh and striker Robin Singh are yet to recover from injuries, while CK Vineeth too has missed the bus after suffering a shoulder injury ahead of his club’s AFC Cup last-16 game.
India will leave for Laos on Tuesday for their play-off scheduled on June 2, while the return leg will be played in Guwahati on June 7.
India were left to feature in a play-off match to make an entry into the qualification round of the continent’s flagship tournament after they finished at the bottom of their group with just three points during their joint preliminary round campaign of the FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup.
Squad: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Subrata Paul, Amrinder Singh; Defenders: Rino Anto, Keegan Pereira, Pritam Kotal, Arnab Mondal, Sandesh Jhingan, Chinglensana Singh, Fulganco Cardozo, Narayan Das; Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Holicharan Narzary, Seityasen Singh, Md Rafique, Eugenson Lyngdoh, Jackichand Singh, Alwyn George; Forwards: Sumeet Passi, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri.