Lalengmawia ‘Apuia’ Ralte, who is only 22 years old, is regarded as one of the top box-to-box midfielders for the Indian Football Team. The teenage player for Mumbai City FC has always been an elusive figure in Indian football. However, it’s been alleged that Apuia lost his spot on the national team after upsetting head coach Igor Stimac.
Apuia last played for India in the Intercontinental Cup against Mongolia on June 9. He was also ruled out of the SAFF Championship.He was considered for the squad for the King’s Cup in Thailand, but he did not make the cut. He qualified for the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup campaign in Dalian, China, but was not selected. As a result, his exclusion from the Indian Football Team has sparked debate on social media.
His omission from India’s selection for the Asian Games is now being blamed on an off-field incident. According to The Times of India, the problem developed at the team’s pre-Intercontinental Cup training camp in Bhubaneswar in May.
Several sessions on mental conditioning were conducted by the team’s psychologist throughout the camp, and the players were then asked to complete a rudimentary questionnaire. Apuia, on the other hand, did not submit his responses by the deadline, and head coach Igor Stimac was notified. Stimac was dissatisfied with the turn of events and planned to take harsh action against him.
“Stimac was furious at the midfielder’s actions and decided to take strong actions,” a source told TOI.
“We do not know why Apuia failed to submit the form. He may have needed some help. In this case, after the psychologist’s complaint, an angry Stimac told Apuia that he will never represent the national team until he is in charge,” they added.
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Indian Football Team are set to play in the Asian Games 2023 starting from September 19. After ISL teams refused to let go of senior players originally names with the 10th season starting on Spetember 21, Indian Football Team officials had to settle for a young U23 squad. The Squad will be led by captain Sunil Chhetri. However, Apuia still did not make the cut.
Indian Football Team Asian Games Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
Defenders: Sumit Rathi, Narender Gahlot, Deepak Tangri, Sandesh Jhingan, Chinglensana Singh, Lalchungnunga.
Midfielders: Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Samuel James Lyngdoh, Rahul KP, Abdul Rabeeh, Ayush Dev Chhetri, Bryce Miranda, Azfar Noorani, Vincy Barretto.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Rahim Ali, Rohit Danu, Gurkirat Singh, Aniket Jadhav.
Head coach: Igor Stimac.
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