Indian football: Four Under-17 World Cup players called up for SAFF Championships camp

Indian national team head coach Stephen Constantine has called up four U-17 World Cup players for the SAFF Championships preparatory camp.

The four players – Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Rahim Ali and Rahul K P – all of whom are part of AIFF’s developmental team Indian Arrows – will be reporting to the camp in Delhi from July 28 onwards, along with 30 others.

The seniors, Sunil Chhetri, Gupreet Singh Sandhu, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika and other first-teamers have been left out, hinting that Constantine wants to test his bench strength ahead of the Asian Cup.

This will be the last tournament that India participate in before the Asian Cup, given that the Indian Olympic Association decided to not send the team to the Asian Games.

India, the defending champions, have been clubbed in Group B along with Maldives and Sri Lanka and play their first match against the latter in Bangladesh (venues not yet announced) on September 6.

The final is slated for September 15.

Constantine stressed it’s important to see whether the youngsters are up to the challenge or not.

“We are always looking down to the age groups to see if these players can make the step up the ladder. I have always put a great deal of importance on the youth and have stuck to the same philosophy – this camp is no different. Quite a few youngsters have been provided with a chance to prove their worth,” he added.

“Heading to a tournament with such a young team is going to be a challenge but that’s what we want. We want to find out that particular player who can push the extra bit to achieve the desired result, who can take up the extra responsibility to force himself into the team.”

The list of 34 probables stay as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Vishal Kaith, Toufik Kabir, Kamaljit Singh, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill.

DEFENDERS: Nishu Kumar, Umesh Perambhara, Davinder Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Salam Ranjan Singh, Sarthak Golui, Lalruatthara, Subhasish Bose, Jerry Lalrinzuala

MIDFIELDERS: Nikhil Poojary, Isaac Vanmalswama, S Nandha Kumar, Udanta Singh, Vinit Rai, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Rohit Kumar, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Arjun Jayaraj, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Ashique Kuruniyan, Vignesh D, Rahim Ali

FORWARDS: Sumeet Passi, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Hitesh Sharma, Alen Deory, Manvir Singh, Kivi Zhimomi, Rahul KP

(With inputs from PTI)