The Indian National football team landed in Thimphu for their forthcoming friendly match against Bhutan. The 20-man squad arrived at Thimphu after a 13-day pre-season training camp in New Delhi.
India were initially slated to fly out to the United States but were unable to do so due to visa restrictions.
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The training camp in New Delhi featured a number of fresh faces in order to fill in for missing Bengaluru FC and East Bengal players who were unavailable due to their commitments to the AFC Championship and Calcutta Football League respectively. This was part of the coach’s plan to expand the pool of players in the national team.
Coach Constantine who spoke to the media before departure mentioned the need for the squad to acclimatize to the colder temperatures and high altitude in Bhutan.
“I don’t think the weather in Bhutan will be a concern. Obviously, the temperatures will be quite different from what we have at present in India,” he said.
“It’s going to be a lot more colder than what we had in Delhi. But that’s something which we will have to adjust to. Dealing with different climatic conditions is part of International Football and at the end of the day it all boils down to how you play,” he said.
He went on to say, “Obviously the match will be played at a much higher altitude but we will train for four days to acclimatise,”
The match which is set to be played on August 13 will also serve as preparation for Bhutan’s 2019 Asian Cup UAE Qualifiers against Bangladesh on September 6.
The 20 man squad is given below:
Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, T.P Rehenesh, Laxmikant Kattimani.
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Fluganco Cardozo, Chinglesana Konsham Singh, Aiborlang Khongjee, Koushik Sarkar.
Midfielders: Isaac Chhakchhuak, Rowlin Borges, Dhanpal Ganesh, David Lalrinmuana, Vinit Rai, Germanpreet Singh, Pronoy Halder, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Jackichand Singh.
Forwards: Halicharan Narzary, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi.
