The third edition of the Indian Super League kicks off on 1 October 2016 as Kerala Blasters FC travel to Guwahati to take on NorthEast United FC in the opening match. The latest edition of the most popular football tournament in India promises to be another extravaganza after fans witnessed two exciting previous seasons which saw footballing giants in Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Fredrick Ljungberg and Roberto Carlos among others grace the pitch in India.
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Atletico de Kolkata were the winners of the inaugural season of the ISL after they defeated Kerala Blasters 1-0 in the final. Chennaiyin FC won the top honours in 2015 by beating FC Goa 3-2 in a hugely exciting final match.
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Mumbai City FC have roped in for Manchester United and Atletico Madrid forward Diego Forlan for ISL 3, with Helder Postiga, Lucio, John Arne Riise and Florent Malouda among other big names who will play this year. 214 players spread across 8 teams will fight it out for this year’s honours with several Indian players expected to fight for the limelight.
We take a look at the full squads of each team of the third edition of the Indian Super League:
Atletico de Kolkata Full Squad
Managed by former Atletico Madrid player Jose Francisco Molina, Atletico de Kolkata are one of the favourites to win the league after they won the inaugural season beating the Kerala Blasters in the final. Atletico will play at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, this time, as the Yuba Bharati Krirangan prepares itself to host the Under-17 World Cup next year.
The likes of Iain Hume, Helder Postiga, and Sameehg Doutie are some foreign players expected to make an impact, while Arnab Mondal and Pritam Kotal are highlights from the Indian contingent.
Goalkeepers:
Debjit Majumder (India), Dani Mallo (Spain), Shilton Paul (India)
Defenders:
Arnab Mondal (India), Keegan Pereira (India), Pritam Kotal (India), Kingshuk Debnath (India), Prabir Das (India), Robert Lalthlamuana (India), Pablo Gallardo (Spain), Tiri (Spain)
Midfielders:
Abinash Ruidas (India), Bikramjit Singh (India), Bikash Jairu (India), Jewel Raja (India), Lalrindika Ralte (India), Bidyananda Singh (India), Javi Lara (Spain), Sameehg Doutie (South Africa), Borja Fernandez (Spain), Stephen Pearson (Scotland), Ofentse Nato (Botswana),
Forwards:
Lain Hume (Canada), Juan Belencoso (Spain), Helder Postiga (Portugal)
Chennaiyin FC Full Squad
The winners of ISL 2 are managed again by Marco Materazzi this year and he has roped in some quality players from Italy in Manuele Blasi, while John Arne Riise and Jeje Lalpekhlua are other players who are expected to make an impact as they look to retain the title in ISL 3.
Goalkeepers:
Duwayne Kerr (Jamaica), Karanjit Singh (India), Pawan Kumar (India)
Defenders:
Jerry Lalrinzuala (India), Bernard Mendy (France), Eli Sabia (Brazil), John Arne Riise (Norway), Nallappan Mohanraj (India), Eder Fernandes (Brazil), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (India), Abhishek Das (India)
Midfielders:
Siam Hanghal (India), Thoi Singh (India), Dhanpal Ganesh (India), Raphael Augusto (Brazil), Baljit Sahni (India), Harmanjot Khabra (India), Manuele Blasi (Italy), Hans Mulder (Netherlands), Anirudh Thapa (India), Bodo Baoringdao (India), Bedashwor Singh(India)
Forwards:
Jayesh Rane (India), Jeje Lalpekhlua (India), Uttam Rai (India), Davide Succi (Italy), Maurizio Peluso (Italy), MacPherlin Dudu Omagbemi(Nigeria), Prosenjit Chakraborty(India)
Delhi Dynamos FC Full Squad
The Delhi-based franchise has roped in Gianluca Zambrotta as their head coach and former Chelsea winger Florent Malouda as their Marquee player for ISL 3. The Lions will hope to better their results this time around after finishing 5th and 4th respectively in the first two seasons.
Goalkeepers:
Sanjiban Ghosh (India), Soram Poirei (India), Toni Doblas (Spain)
Defenders:
Chinglensana Kohnsham Singh (India), Anas Edathodika (India), David Addy (Ghana), Ibrahima Niasse (Ghana), Lalchhawnkima (India),Lalruattara (India), Ruben Rocha(Spain), Rupert Nongrum (India), Souvik Chakraborty (India)
Midfielders:
Denson Devadas (India), Bruno Pelissari (Brazil), Milan Singh (India), Florent Malouda (France), Emerson Gomes de Moura (Brazil), Malsawmzuala (India), Marcos Tebar (Spain), Alwyn George (Indian), Anas Edathodika (Indian), Amoes Do (India), Konsham Singh (India), David Addy (Ghana)
Forwards:
Arjun Tudu (India), Marcelo Leite Pereira (Brazil), Badara Badji(Senegal), Kean Lewis (India), Richard Gadze (Ghana)
FC Goa Full Squad
Former Champions league and World Cup winner Lucio is FC Goa’s marquee signing for this season’s ISL. The team managed by Zico were arguably the most attacking and exciting team in the competition for the past two season and will hope to capture the title this time around after narrowly missing it in the prevous edition.
FC GoaGoalkeeper:Laxmikanth Kattimani (India), Subhashish Roy Chowdhury (India), Sukhdev Patil (India)Defender:Denzil Michael Franco (India), Fulganco Cardozo (India), Luciano Sobrosa (Brazil), Debabrata Roy(India), Gregory Arnolin(France), Keenan Almeida (India), Lucio (Brazil), Rafael Dumas (Brazil), Raju Gaikwad (India),Sanjay Balmuchu (India), Midfielder:Joffre Mateu Gonzalez (Spain), Mandar Rao Dessai (India), Romeo Fernandes (India), Sahil Tavora (India), Pratesh Shirokdar (India), Felisbino (Brazil), Trindade Goncalvez (Brazil)
Forward:Rafael Coelho Luiz (Brazil), Reinaldo Da Cruz Oliveira (Brazil), Robin Singh (India), Julio Cesar (Brazil)
FC Pune City Full Squad
Antonio Lopez Habas takes charge of Pune City FC for this term after two hugely successful years for Atletico de Kolkata. They have signed Edel Bete as their goalkeeper this time who won both the editions of ISL with two different teams.
Goalkeeper:Apoula Edima Edel Bete (Cameroonian), Arindam Bhattacharya(India), Vishal Kaith (India)Defender:Eduardo Ferreira (Brazil), Augustine Melwyn Fernandes (India), Rahul Shankar Bheke (India), Narayan Das (India), Yumnam Raju (India), Dharmaraj Ravanan (India), Gourmangi Singh (India), Zodingriana Ralte (India) Andre Bikey,Midfielder:Arata Izumi (India), Francis Fernandes (India), Bruno Herrero Arias (Spain), Jonatan Lucca (Brazil), Pitu (Spain), Sanju Pradhan (India), Lenny Rodriguez(India), Manish Maithani (India), Momar Ndoye (Senegal)
Forward:Anibal Zurdo Rodriguez (India), Gustavo Oberman (Argentina), Tato (Spain)
Kerala Blasters FC Full Squad
Michael Chopra headlines the attack for Kerala City FC which is managed by Steve Coppell. Kerala finished last in the table in ISL 2 and will be hoping to revive their fortunes this time around.
Goalkeeper:Graham Stack (United Kingdom), Sandip Nandy (India), Kunal Sawant (India), Mohammad Ansari (India), Defender:Aaron Hughes (England),Gurwinder Singh (India), Cedric Hengbart (France), Pratik Chaudhari (India), Sandesh Jhingan (India)Midfielder:Ishfaq Ahmed (India), Josu Currias (Spain), Mehtab Hossain (India), Didier Boris Kadio (Ivory Coast), Elhadji Ndoye (Senegal), Azrack Mahamat(France), Vinit Rai (India), CK Vineeth (India)
Forward:Antonio German (England), Kervens Belfort (Haiti), Mohammed Rafi (India), Michael Chopra (India), Thongkhosiem Haokip (India), Duckens Nazon (Haiti), Farukh Chaudhary (India), Mohammad Rafique (India), Prasanth KarUthadathkuni (India).
Mumbai City FC Full Squad
Mumbai City FC, in Diego Forlan, arguably have the biggest name in the ISL this time around. Added with him are the likes of Sony Norde who has been sensational for Mohun Bagan in the I-League and one of the best midfielders in India in Jackichand Singh. Mumbai are a force to reckon with and should finish in the top four if everything goes well for them.
Goalkeeper:Albino Gomes (India), Roberto Valpato Netto (Brazil), Amrinder Singh (India)Defender:Aiborlang Khongjee (India), Anwar Ali (India), Gerson Vieira (Brazil), Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte (India), Lucian Goian (Romania), Facundo Cardozo (Argentina), Lalchhuanmawia Fanai (India), Munmun Lugun (India), Ashutosh Mehta (India)Midfielder:Boithang Haokip (India), David Lalrinmuana (India), Jackichand Singh (India), Krisztian Vadocz (Hungary), Leo Costa (Brazil), Pronay Halder (India), Matias Defederico (Argentina), Otacilio Brito Alves (Brazil), Rakesh Oram (India), Shehnaz Singh (India),Sony Norde (Haiti)
Forward:Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Gaston Sangoy (Argentina), Sunil Chhetri (India)
NorthEast United FC Full Squad
The most capped Ivory Coast international in Didier Zokora is NorthEast United FC’s marquee signing for this term. The John Abraham owned team finished 5th last season after being at the bottom of the table in the inaugural season.
Goalkeeper:Subrata Paul (India), Wellington Gomes (Brazil), Rehenesh TP(India)Defender:Gustavo Lazzaretti (Brazil), Mailson Alves (Brazil), Nirmal Chettri (India), Reagan Singh (India), Salam Ranjan Singh (India), Shouvik Ghosh (India), Robin Gurung (India), Midfielder:Didier Zokora (Abidjan), Fabio Neves (Brazil), Fanai Lalrempuia (India), Jerry Mawihmingthanga (india), Katsumi Yusa (Japan), Lallianzuala Chhangte (India), Rowlin Borges (India), Seit Yasen Singh (India), Wellington Priori (Brazil), Holicharan Narzary (India), Koffi N’diri (Ivory Coast), Forward:Sasha Aneff (Uruguay), Nicolas Vélez (Argentina), Sumit Passi (India), Emiliano Alfaro (Uruguay), Robert Cullen (Japan)
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