Indian Football Team Gears Up for Tough Challenge at Asian Games 2023

Indian Football Team will face their toughest competition in the upcoming Asian Games, which is going to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 19th. AIFF announced an 18-member men’s squad for the competition.

The star center back Sandesh Jhingan, Chinglensana Singh, and Lalchungnunga were added to the squad for the Asian Games. They are going to be important players for the Indian Football Team, who have many young guns to show their skills on the huge stage. Recently, the team played without many core members in the King’s Cup, which ended up in disappointment, but still, their match against Iran was an amazing display of the future that Indian Football holds. The AIFF will conduct Naorem Mahesh Singh’s medical test before deciding whether to include him in the squad or not.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey expressed his happiness over this development on the eve of the Asian Games. He said, “We are delighted to have the dependable Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan duo in our attack and defence, respectively, for the continental games. We also have some more seasoned players in the squad to boost our campaign.”

Kalyan Chaubey also appreciated the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) for their support to the national team by agreeing to reschedule some matches of the Indian Super League, which will kick off on 21 September. He thanked all the stakeholders of the AIFF for their cooperation in resolving the deadlock that was created over the release of players and the overlapping of dates. The Schedule is already out for the Asian Games.

India head coach Igor Stimac said, “It’s a great development that some experienced players have joined the Asian Games squad, who will surely help the team’s cause. I’m grateful to FSDL and AIFF for making it possible. Whoever represents India will be proud to defend the flag together.”

Indian men’s squad for the 19th Asian Games:

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.