U17 FIFA WC team member Ali, FC Goa’s Fernandes get maiden India call-ups

India
play
against
Nepal
on
September
2
and
5
in
Kathmandu.
After
being
a
part
of
the
2017
FIFA
U-17
World
Cup
team,
Ali,
now
21,
played
for
Indian
Arrows
for
two
years
and
then
joined
Chennaiyin
FC
in
2019.
He
has
also
been
part
of
the
India
U20
and
U23
sides.

He
will
now
be
in
the
company
of
talismanic
striker
Sunil
Chhetri
upfront
along
with
Manvir
Singh
and
Farukh
Choudhary.
Defender
Fernandes,
28,
was
a
part
of
the
FC
Goa
side
that
played
in
the
AFC
Champions
League
earlier
this
year.
He
had
a
bout
of
COVID-19
in
May.

Another
defender
Mandar
Rao
Dessai
returned
to
the
squad
after
missing
the
2022
World
Cup
qualification
campaign
in
Qatar
in
June.
Adil
Khan
also
did
not
figure
in
the
final
25-member
squad.
Senior
defender
Sandesh
Jhingan,
who
has
joined
Croatian
top
division
side
HNK
Sibenik,
understandably
did
not
make
it
to
the
squad.

Another
notable
omission
is
the
Bengaluru
FC
winger
Udanta
Singh
who
was
dropped
from
the
squad
that
played
friendly
matches
against
the
UAE
and
Oman
in
March
but
returned
for
the
subsequent
World
Cup
qualifiers
in
June.

Rowllin
Borges,
Lallianzuala
Chhangte
and
Ashique
Kuruniyan
are
the
three
other
players
missing
from
the
last
World
Cup
qualifying
campaign
squad.
The
national
team
probables
have
been
training
in
Kolkata
since
August
15.

While
the
ATK
Mohun
Bagan
players
join
the
camp
in
Kolkata
on
Friday,
the
Bengaluru
FC
players
will
join
the
rest
of
the
squad
in
New
Delhi
Sunday.
The
team
leaves
for
Nepal
on
Monday.

The
Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Amrinder
Singh,
Dheeraj
Singh
Moirangthem,
Gurpreet
Singh
Sandhu.

Defenders:
Pritam
Kotal,
Chinglensana
Singh
Konsham,
Mandar
Rao
Dessai,
Akash
Mishra,
Rahul
Bheke,
Subhasish
Bose,
Seriton
Fernandes.

Midfielders:
Lalengmawia,
Bipin
Singh,
Anirudh
Thapa,
Sahal
Abdul
Samad,
Brandon
Fernandes,
Liston
Colaco,
Yasir
Mohammad,
Glan
Martins,
Suresh
Singh
Wangjam,
Jeakson
Singh,
Pronay
Halder.

Forwards:
Manvir
Singh,
Rahim
Ali,
Sunil
Chhetri,
Farukh
Choudhary.