Shaking off the disappointment of Asian Games, head coach of Indian football team Igor Stimac has turned his attention to Merdeka Cup 2023. Stimac on Friday named a list of 26 probable players that may travel to Malaysia next month.
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The Merdeka Cup 2023 will be a four-team affair. Palestine and Tajikistan will take the other two spots after India and hosts Malaysia. It is a knockout tournament that will see India take on the hosts on October 13. Palestine and Tajakistan will lock horns in the other semi-final earlier in the same day.
Should India go on to win their tie against Malaysia, they will play the final on October 17th against the winner of Palestine vs Tajakistan. If India lose, they will play a third-place match against the other losing semi-finalist earlier in the same day.
However, it is to be kept in mind that this is a probable list of 26 players. Only 23 among the group will board the flight to Malaysia in October. The final list of 23 players will be announced around the second week of October.
The names on the list suggest Stimac will get a full-strength side at his disposal for the Merdeka Cup. It is quite different to India’s football squad for the Asian Games. Notably, the Indian football team crashed out of the Asian games on Thursday, losing 2-0 to Saudi Arabia. Saudi striker Khalil Marran scored a brace to knock India out of the tournament.
Probable players’ list for Merdeka Cup
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith and Dheeraj Singh.
Defenders: Nikhil Poojari, Roshan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Mehtab Singh, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra and Subhashish Bose.
Midfielders: Jeakson Singh, Suresh Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Rohit Kumar, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Lalianzuala Chhangte, Udanta Singh, Vikram Pratap Singh, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Liston Colaco and Nandhakumar Sekar.
Forwards:Sunil Chhetri and Manvir Singh.
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